


You Wanna Be On Top?

by SandsnakeQueen



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Competition, Don't copy to another site, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Getting to Know Each Other, Implied Relationships, Male-Female Friendship, Modeling, Multi, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Runway - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2019-10-18 07:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17576912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandsnakeQueen/pseuds/SandsnakeQueen
Summary: Shizuka Uzumaki is competing in the biggest modeling competition in all of Japan with her twin brother Naruto. As she goes through rounds and rounds of runway and photo-shoots, follow along as Shizuka makes friends, and possible enemies, as she chases her dream. She may even find a little romance with a certain redhead along the way. Multiple Naruto characters and couples included!Think ANTM meets Naruto, pretty much.This is cross-posted from my account on Fanfiction





	1. The Casting Call

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I had written another modelling themed story called "The Competition Starts Now", but I discontinued it because I didn't really like the flow and direction it was heading for. 
> 
> I was growing unhappy with it, so I decided to rewrite it to give it a fresh start. The many characters in this story will be revealed over time, including many Naruto characters we know and love. My character Izuka is my original idea, as well as any new characters I may make up along the way. 
> 
> I hope all you readers enjoy the story and I hope you all will fave, follow, or review to show your enjoyment. (Or not, I can get by with just views . . . But still, I will appreciate any faves, follows, or reviews you’d like to give me XD) Enjoy!

"Izuka! Izuka . . . IZUKA, WAKE UP ALREADY!"

"WHAT IS IT!?" I yell, flailing my arms and hitting something immediately. It sounded like it stumbled to the ground, so I finally opened my eyes to see my exuberant loudmouth of a brother kneeling on the ground clutching his cheek. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of ridiculously bright orange boxers, his blonde hair looking very messy after having its nightly date with his pillow.

Then again, when is it ever not messy?

“Dammit sit! That smack wasn’t necessary!” he exclaims, picking himself up from my floor. I was not amused, and I made sure my displeasure was known by giving him my fiercest scowl, or, at least, the best one I could muster in my sleep-deprived state.

“I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times Naruto. If you try to wake me up when I’m not ready, I will be throwing hands!” I tell him, holding in the yawn that was threatening to come out of my mouth. "Anyway, what the hell do you want? Sleep is not an easy thing to come by for me you know . . ."

"Yes, I know about your chronic insomnia. I’ve known for years . . . I’m not that dumb," Naruto tells me like it was the simplest thing in the world.

My glare set him straight real quick.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I have a very good reason for doing it!"

"And what is it exactly?" I ask with a groan as I slowly swing my legs over the edge of my bed. "It better be good Naruto or else I will burn your whole entire ramen stash in the trash bin!"

"So it was you that burned my last stash! I thought it was one of the neighbors!" Naruto exclaims with a look of disbelief on his face. ". . . I owe Ms. Yamato an apology."

"Naruto, explain now or else the ramen is going to have a date with the trash," I say with a slight growl in my voice as I wipe the sleep from my eyes, well, try to. "I know where you hide it and it won't take me long to get it."

"Alright, alright. I'll talk," my brother says, holding up his arms in defeat. "I woke you because we have a deadline to make! Today’s the day! It’s Casting Call Day! The opportunity of a lifetime is finally upon us and we need to get ready!"

"The casting call . . . It's the one for that modelling competition right?" I ask, the yawn I had been holding back now free to escape past my lips. "What's the name again? “You Wanna be on Top?” right?"

"That's exactly it . . . The casting call is being held at the Morimoto building downtown at 8:00 on the dot. It is 5:30 now, and there's going to be a big crowd down there no matter what, so I figured we better get a move before we become part of the crowd that ends up missing their shot. . . It is a one day thing after all."

"No matter how early we get there, there's going to be a big, long line nonetheless. Popular competitions like this one just make it inevitable," I say as I finally got out of bed. "Anyway, I'm going to get ready now . . . You should do the same Naruto."

"Can't I heat up some ramen for us first? You know, to go?" he asks, almost with a whine as I walked over to my closet. "We shouldn’t go on an empty stomach you know . . .”

"Fine, but make it quick," I say as I look through my rack of clothes. "If we want to get a good spot in line, we need to get out of here as fast as possible. I will leave your ass here if you delay us too long!"

"Yes ma'am!" and with a blazing grin that could light a room, Naruto runs out my room, almost tripping on his own two feet as he ran out the doorway. I couldn't help but chuckle at that. He had grown out of his clumsiness years ago, but every once in a while, it just comes right back to bite him. Hopefully he doesn't go all clumsy again on the runway.

And as for me, I just hope I don't fall asleep on it. . .

* * *

 

**_At_ ** **_6:45_ **

"Damn this line is long!" Naruto exclaims as we finally reached the end of the line. "This line wraps around the block for crying out loud! I could probably eat two bowls of ramen clean before we get inside."

"Well, this is what happens when popular competitions hold castings and auditions Naruto. Like I said before, big lines are inevitable," I say as I looked around our surroundings. "It's a good thing the casting call is taking place in the middle of spring though. If it was happening during the dead of winter, this line probably wouldn't even be half as long as it is now."

"I don't think so Izzy . . ." Naruto mumbles as he patted my shoulder. "Everyone here, us included, are here to audition for the largest modeling competition in all of Japan! Cold weather would definitely not stop people from pursuing such a huge opportunity."

"I guess that's what you call dedication . . ." I say as the line slowly inched forward. "Do you think we'll even make it to the next round?"

"Now what kind of talk is that sis?"

“What? It’s not like you haven’t thought of it before!”

"True, but still though. That's not the kind of attitude you want to have when you're on the verge of a breakthrough such as this."

"I know . . . You're right, but still," I say with a shake of my head as we continue to inch forward. "Look around you! We’re in a sea of gorgeous faces Naruto! The odds of us moving on to the next round are pretty slim if you ask me."

"I wasn’t asking, and odds? Ha! I laugh at odds!" he chuckles as we finally turn the corner. "C'mon Izzy, have a little faith in yourself! I know we’ll make it to the next round. I just know it . . . If it helps, we do have our own unique looks to fall back on."

"I guess you're right . . ." I say as I spot our reflection in the building’s windows. It made for an excellent mirror for anyone that wanted to use it to touch up their makeup, fix their hair, or check for any blemishes and imperfections that may have suddenly come up on their skin, and yes, many were taking advantage of it.

Naruto and I are fraternal twins, and we were probably the biggest example of how different fraternal twins can look compared to each other. We’re the same height and the same head shape, but that was as similar as similar gets between us.

Naruto was tanner than me and had bright blue eyes that reminded me of the sea. Along with his bright blonde hair and the foxlike whisker marks on his cheeks, he looked like he would fit in with any surfer group you’d find at the beach.

On the other hand, I always considered myself as a  . . . well, the _icier_ version of my brother, so to speak.

While his hair has always been this bright blonde shade that looked like it was kissed by the sun, mine's is very pale. People say I’m an ice-blonde, but I think my hair is even paler than that, almost ghost-like. My skin and eyes are slightly paler than Naruto's own, and I was never born with the whisker marks my brother was born with, or any birthmark to begin with.

Instead, I have been developing a bad case of insomnia for the past few years now. It’s gotten so bad that dark rings have started to show around my eyes.

They don't look that terrible.

In fact, it looks like I've got permanent mascara lines around my eyes.

Yes, I’ve managed to save a bunch of money I could have spent on mascara because of this. I see it as a bonus.

I've been able to sleep from time to time, but most nights, I just curl up in my bed with a book in hand because I simply can't sleep well anymore.

"Come on sis . . . You got to believe that we have a pretty good chance of making it through to the next round. If you don't, well, I'll just believe for the both of us." Naruto says with that ever-so-cheerful grin of his as we continue to move along like a very long, very slow caterpillar.

"Hmm, thanks Naruto," I say as I shoot him a small smirk. His just gets wider, which makes me wonder how in the world he could maintain such a chipper attitude despite the ever-so-scary odds.

Eventually, we finally manage to get into the building after another half hour passes by, and once we’re inside, it turns out that the boys and girls would be auditioning _separately_ , with the boys staying on the ground floor, and us girls moving to the second floor to show our stuff.

"Looks like this is where we split up sis," Naruto says, his eyes more on the male competition making their way down the hall. "I'll see you later."

"See ya Naruto!" I say with a chuckle as I watch him walk away. "And bro!"

"Yeah little sis?"

"Good luck!"

"Thanks . . . Knock'em dead sis!"

That’s the last thing he tells me before he disappears into the crowd of tall, good looking men. Watching the crowd move on, I take a deep breath before following the large group of girls down a second hallway that led to the staircases, elevators, and escalators. With the amount of ladies that were trying out today, the staircase was the obvious choice to go with if I wanted to get ahead of some of these people.

Going up the stairs was a good choice. The escalator up looked crazy, and some of the girls now looked like they just got out of a cage fight.

When I reached the second floor, I hustled over to the group gathering before a long table next to a set of bronze-colored doors. Standing in front of the table was a raven-haired woman dressed in a shiny silver jumpsuit and black sandals. Her chin-length hair was pinned back and she held a black clipboard that had the 'You Wanna Be on Top?' logo on the back.

She looked like a very fashionable secretary.

"Welcome potential models!" the lady says with a grin as she holds her clipboard close to her chest. "Welcome to the first round of the 'You Wanna Be on Top?' auditions!"

"My name is Shizune, and you all know me as the assistant to the host of this esteemed competition, Ms. Tsunade herself," Somehow I can still hear her voice, despite her being pelted with ravenous cheers and applause. "Now settle down ladies, I have to go over a few things with you all before we get down to business."

At that, the entire crowd comes to an abrupt halt, all of us giving Shizune our rapt attention. We all went from a raucous crowd to as grim as a cemetery, standing in complete silence so that we heard what she had to say next.

"Thank you all for your attention," says Shizune as she looks around the group. "For starters, unfortunately, Ms. Tsunade couldn't make it to today's casting due to another urgent matter, but she will be around for the semifinals. Well, if you're lucky enough to make it that far that is."

"That worries me . . ."

"Hmm . . ." I felt my eyebrow go up at the timid voice from somewhere on my near left. Turning my head, I come face-to-face with a pale indigo-haired girl right next to me watching Shizune with a timid look on her face. Her pale eyes - which didn't look like they had pupils to begin with at first glance - showed how unsure she as she began to twiddle her fingers like the nervous person she probably was. "Hey, you shouldn't be so worried!"

"Huh?" she asks, shocked to hear that someone was talking directly to her. "Wait, are you talking to me?"

"Yes, yes I am talking to you," I say, bringing out my best reassuring smile. "It's okay to be nervous. You're not the only one who's worried about their chances here. Between you and me, even though everyone seems excited to be here, I bet everyone's feeling a little iffy on the inside, myself included."

"I guess you have a point . . . This is such a big opportunity. It's crazy for me to think that everybody here is not even a little nervous I guess . . ." she says as she takes in a very deep breath. "Oh, excuse me, what is your name?"

"Shizuka Uzumaki, but I just go by Izuka for short," I say with a shrug. "My brother insists on calling me Izzy, even though I never want him to . . . What's yours?”

"My name is Hinata Hyuga," she says as we overhear Shizune talk about how we each have to do a little bit of paperwork before we were let into the room. "So, is your brother auditioning too?"

"Yep; he's downstairs with the other guys. What about you?" I ask as we join the other girls in filing into a single line. "Do you have any friends or family auditioning today?"

"Just my cousin Neji," she tells me with a small shrug as we inch forward. "He was a little reluctant to come along at first though."

"Huh, why?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. "Why was your cousin so reluctant?"

"He wasn't too in to the idea of competing in a modeling competition, but my dad asked him to come with me because he wanted someone to look out for me while I'm here," Hinata tells me, twiddling her fingers as she spoke. "Plus, he wasn't fully convinced to come along until he found out that his friend TenTen was auditioning too."

"Is she here among the group?"

"No, she's going to audition during the afternoon session," Hinata tells me, a look of shock coming across my face . . . Damn you Naruto. "You never knew there was an afternoon session, did you?"

"Not in the slightest . . ." I say as I notice that we were only 15 girls away from the table. "I have a hard time sleeping, and if I had known that there was an afternoon session as well, I would have slept in and gone to that one instead. My brother never told me . . ."

"Maybe he never knew . . ." Hinata suggests in my brother's defense as I pinch the bridge of my nose. I decide to give her the benefit of the doubt and don't say anything to her suggestion, because truthfully, she had a point.

Eventually, we finally reach the front of the line. Once we get through the admission packet, we each receive a pink paper with a number on it. We're then ushered through the bronze colored doors and into the room filled with other models hoping to get to the next round, and this room is _huge_. "There's a lot of competition here."

"You said it . . ." I mumble as we make our way to a couple of chairs that was in the far back of the room. "But I hope we both make it through."

"Wait. You hope we _both_ make it through?" Hinata asks me in slight shock as we find a couple of empty seats.

"Well, why not?" I ask, confused by her question. "Even though we've known each other for like, 30 minutes now, I can tell that you're a nice person Hinata. Plus, you have one of the most unique looks in the room. There are girls here that are actually shooting you glances . . . That means they see you as a potential threat."

"Really . . . Oh," she says, her eyes widening as we spot at least seven other girls staring our way. They turn away as soon as they realized that we were staring back at them. "Maybe they were just staring at you Izuka? You have a unique look as well. Very . . . icy."

"Yeah, I've been told that I have a bit of an icy look to myself, I’ll admit it. Actually, it made it hard for me to make friends at first because I look so unapproachable . . ." I say, sadly chuckling at old memories as I place my sticky pink paper on my leg. Hinata does the same with hers, but she puts it right on her stomach. "But my brother - the little motivational speaker he is at times - told me that I should just have faith in myself and basically not let things faze me. I just got to work my butt off today and hope for the best, and you should too! Just block out the haters, and do your own thing."

"That's some nice advice," Hinata says with a nod, looking a little amused now. “All my dad told me was good luck.”

"Sometimes a simple 'good luck' is all you really need . . ." I say with a chuckle as Shizune walks into the room. "And in this competition, it doesn't hurt to have a little luck going for you."


	2. The Preliminary Round

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata and Izuka face the preliminary round.

"Alright ladies, I know it looks like there are a lot less of you in this room compared to when you were all lined up outside the building. Don’t worry! There's a perfectly good reason for the change in numbers!" we hear Shizune say, thanks in large part to the microphone an assistant handed to her.

"Per competition rules, there is supposed to be a certain number of potential models, aka, you guys, taking part in the morning session. There were so many of you that came out today, that once we reached our limit, we basically had to stop letting people in to the building. While the rest of those girls will have to wait till the afternoon session to have their chance, you early birds will be starting your journey right here, right now!"

"And so it begins . . ." I mumble, taking in a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Are you ready Hinata?"

"Hopefully . . ." is all she says, her face looking slightly unsure. I return it with a reassuring smile before bringing my attention back to Shizune, who was gesturing for the whole room to be quiet, like an emcee quieting her loyal fans.

"Anyway, before you all entered this room, you were each handed a pink piece of paper with a number on it. When your number is called, you will come up to our lovely runway here in the middle of the aisle," she explains, gesturing toward the long, black, elevated platform running down the main walkway. "The preliminary judges will ask you to walk, and once you’re done, they’ll do a little interview with you, with your fellow models here serving as your audience of course."

"Oh great . . . Doing an interview and a runway walk in front of your competition? No pressure." Hinata says with a worrying shake of the head.

"I guess they want to see how we’d perform in front of an audience. You know, see who'll step to the plate or buckle under the pressure, that kind of thing," I say with a shrug. "It's a pretty smart test if you ask me. Not everyone is suited for the limelight after all . . ."

"It may be a smart test, but it's a nerve-wracking one just as much. . ."

"This year, there's going to be a few changes to the competition’s format, and the first change starts right here, right now," Shizune further explains, punctuating each word with every step along the runway. "In previous years, the usual routine of the preliminary rounds is as follows: walks, interviews, Polaroid shots, and exit.”

“Usually the announcement for the semi-finalists isn’t announced until a few weeks after the entire preliminary competition is completed. Well, not this year."

Shizune’s face is borderline conspiratorial as she watched us buzz with excitement. She was pretty much torturing us with the lack of info at this point, and I don’t know why, but something tells me she was enjoying herself a little too much right now. "This year, our lovely preliminary judges have a special item in their arsenal. We here at 'You Wanna Be on Top?' have suitably called it the "Fast Track" award."

"Fast Track award?" Hinata asks as we both looked at the woman in disbelief. "What do you think that implies?"

"I don't know . . ." I say with an unsure shrug. "But I think it’s supposed to be good for us."

"Now, I bet you all are wondering what the Fast Track award is, right?" Shizune asks, still with that teasing grin on her face. "Well, the idea behind it is quite simple. If you impress the judges very well, and I mean _very_ **_well_** , then you could earn a Fast Track from them. Earning a Fast Track award means that instead of waiting weeks to learn about your fate, you would earn a ticket to the semifinals right here, on the spot."

The response to her explanation was crazy, to say the least. Girls left and right were jumping up and down in their seats, shocked and amazed to know that there was a chance to immediately earn a spot to the next round up on the table. Shizune ended up having a lot more trouble keeping us quiet - I think that’s what she gets for teasing us for so long - but eventually she managed to get everyone to calm down.

It’s amazing how quick this room can go from sounding like it’s about to erupt into a riot to being as quiet as a library on a good day.

"Calm down girls! I haven't gotten to the drawback yet!” That shut us completely up in no time flat. “Yes, the Fast Track award sounds like an amazing thing to win, and it is, trust me! However it comes in a limited supply, and I mean _very limited_ . . . Only **three** of you can win a Fast Track award, that is, if three of you manage to impress the judges well enough. And It's three per gender at each audition. Six per stop. Three for the guys, three for the girls. Whatever is left of the Fast Track awards here in the morning session gets rolled over to the afternoon session, so if I were you, I would be counting my lucky stars that I made it into this session."

"Well that's great," I mumble, soaking in the shocked gasps and groans that were erupting all around us. "When you think about it, there's basically no guarantee that three girls will even win the awards to get to the semifinals. One girl could win, three girls could win . . ."

"Or in the worst case scenario, no girl wins a Fast Track award and we'll all have to wait weeks before we learn our fates," Hinata finishes, tapping her fingers along her lap. "It really isn't a full win-win scenario for us."

“Eh, you got that right.”

"Alright ladies, are you ready to meet the judges?!" Shizune asks, getting a unanimous 'YES' in return. "Alright then, let’s bring them out here. All three have quite a long history within this competition, so trust me. They know what they are talking about . . . Without further ado, please give a warm welcome to the photographing duo of Genma Shiranui and Hayate Gekko, and top model and 'You Wanna Be On Top?' alum Anko Mitarashi!"

We all come to our feet and applaud the three judges as they entered the room through a side door. The first judge, Genma, was dressed in a simple black shirt and jeans, with his hair tied back in a bandanna, and his signature toothpick already sticking out of his mouth.

Hayate Gekko looked a little sickly in person - then again, when was he not? - but he was dressed fashionably in a casual dark gray suit; his eyes looking a little livelier than what they were usually known for.

As for Anko, who started her career the same way we’re trying to start ours’ now, she was smiling from ear-to-ear as she took the seat in between the two men at the judges table, looking just as good as the men in her body-hugging black jumpsuit.

She was actually the first judge I noticed out of the three, mostly because she walked into the room carrying a tray of dangos in her hands and I was starting to get hungry myself.

“Judges, any last words before we get things started?”

“I do have something to say,” Anko calls, an almost lecherous grin dominating her face. “Ladies, if you have been following my career, then you know that years ago, I was in the position that you guys are in right now. I was one of you wannabe hopefuls, waiting to strut my stuff and show what I got. Yes, I did make it into the final group, and no, I unfortunately didn’t win it all, but I still managed to make a name for myself in the business. . .” 

“All I’m trying to say is that win or lose, this competition has ways of opening doors to you that you may not realize just yet. You just have to show the effort and willingness to work for what you are aiming for. Don’t take this as a game. Don’t take this as a joke! Be serious! Work hard, and strut your asses off!” Anko brashly calls, inciting the anxious crowd with quick intensity. “That’s all I have to say. Genma, Hayate, anything you want to add?”

“I think you summed it up quite well if you ask me!” says Genma while Hayate simply shook his head in agreement. “Let’s get things started!”

“Hmm, it looks like the judges are ready to get this show on the road,” Shizune mumbles as she turns to face the rest of us. "Models, ARE YOU READY?!"

"YES!" we all screamed, the anticipation practically killing us at this point.

"Alright, let's get these preliminaries started!" Shizune exclaims before walking over to a small bowl filled with pink sheets that looked similar to the ones that each of us was given. "Models 87 and 93, please come on down!"

A blond with a severe bob cut quickly got up from her seat in the middle of the room and made her way over to the runway, soon followed by another girl that had blue streaks in her strikingly silver hair. They both made their way over to the part of the runway closest to the judges' table, and even though we could only see their backs, I could tell that they were nervous, very visibly nervous.

One of them was shaking so much you’d think she was going through a serious earthquake right now.

"Hello girls! What’s your names?" Genma asks, his tone friendly as he took out his toothpick.

"My name is Miyuki" the girl with the blue streaks said, her voice trembling as she spoke. It’s a miracle she managed to say that without stuttering.

"Kurome" the girl with the blonde bob said, nodding her head.

"Well Miyuki, Kurome, you two are the first of many, which means you two have the honor of setting the bar," advises Hayate as he crossed his arms. "Hopefully, you two set a high one. Let's get things started . . ."

And started it did.

Kurome and Miyuki walked side-by-side to the tunes of an electro-pop song blaring out from the speakers dotting the walls and our frantic cheering. Both managed to stay in a straight line, and I had to admit. They both had pretty reasonable walks. They weren't really strong and powerful, but they were reasonable enough.

The interviews came right after that, and any notion of the interviews being easier than the walking went right out the window as soon as the first few questions came out of the judges mouths. They were rather blunt and straight-to-point. They weren’t mincing their words, and they were not holding back in the slightest. From the first interviews, and the ensuing ones after it, I knew that questions about us as a person or on the fashion world would be the two main topics the judges want to get to, and they were obviously looking for truthful, heartfelt answers.

As someone who didn’t naturally wear their heart on a sleeve, this was not going to be easy.

More and more models were called up as time went on, ready to try for their shot at glory. Some girls were so confident you thought they were competing for the Miss Japan crown or something. It was just so pageant-like, so . . . _unnatural_.

They were practically robots, well dressed robots in very nice shoes.

I had a feeling those girls didn't impress the judges too much.

On the other hand, some of the girls were obviously nervous, and a couple managed to break down before they got on stage, showing just how much their nerves was getting to them. As soon as they tried to say something, they either lost their voice or started crying, their tears landing on the runway's shiny surface.

I think some of the girls even had anxiety attacks, but the scary highlight of the day goes to the raven-haired girl who fainted right in front of the judges table. One minute she seemed perfectly fine, and then next minute she was face-first on the ground. She didn’t even brace herself, and her face must be hurting right now, well, if the bloody nose she sat up with was any indication.

That was unnerving, and Hinata started trembling so much that I had to calm _her_ down.

"Hinata, it’s going to be okay . . ." I say, her eyes glued to the poor girl as she gets carted away on a stretcher. "Just take a deep breath and calm your nerves."

"I'm trying, but after seeing what just happened, it's really hard to try to stay in a calm state of mind," she tells me as she shakes her head. "Oh, I've always been the shy, nervous type, so I can easily imagine sharing that girl's fate and fainting right where everyone in this whole room can see. That would just be embarrassing!"

"Hinata, you can't keep dwelling on the negative here. You need to stay positive," I say supportively as I see Shizune talking with the judges from the corner of my eye. "Sure that girl fainted, but that's not going to happen to you. You know why?"

"Why?" Hinata timidly asks, suddenly finding her footwear more interesting than me.

"Well, let me tell you something that someone told me a long time ago," I say, going into pep talk mode. "You see, every girl has an inner light in them. That's their confidence, their strength. That inner light, when it finally shines through, can help any girl achieve whatever they're aspiring for. Let your inner light shine through Hinata. Bring it out, and it will help you go far. You just got to trust in it, and trust in yourself."

"Wow . . . You should be an adviser, or a motivational speaker, or something Izuka," Hinata tells me as she finally stops trembling, taking in a deep breath. "That's actually some pretty good advice."

"What can I say? I try," I say, playing off the compliment as Shizune pulls out two more numbers from the bowl. "Anyway, let’s see how long it’ll take before our numbers are called."

"Numbers 29 and 30! You’re next!"

"Wait a sec . . . Aren’t those our numbers?" I ask, looking down to see the big 30 that was my number staring back at me. When I turned to Hinata, she was looking at her paper in shock. She was number 29. "Yeah, it's us alright. You ready to do this Hinata?"

"I think so," she tells me as we both get up from our chairs. "I'm ready to try my luck."

"That's the spirit. Remember your inner light," I advise before leading the way to the runway. The girls around us began whispering and mumbling with each other as we moved to the platform, eyeing us with uncertainty, and even a little bit of jealousy here and there. When we reached the spot where we were supposed to stand, we knew we had all of their attention just by how silent it got . . . No freaking pressure I guess.

"Hi ladies!" Anko greets us with a smile as she twirled her empty dango stick between her slim fingers. "And what are your names?"

"Shizuka, but I usually go by Izuka." I say as I weaved my fingers together, a small smile hiding my nerves as I looked at all three judges.

"My name's Hinata. It’s nice to meet you." Hinata answers, adding a small bow of respect for formality's’ sake.

"Alright Izuka, Hinata, it’s time to see you walk. When I say go, you can start," Anko advises as she signals for the attendant to start the music. Hinata and I both exchange a “ _Good luck_ ’ look before turning around to stare down the length of the runway. The sounds of the familiar electro-pop song that's been the go to for every walk so far echoes out of the receivers, and I couldn’t help but take in a deep breath. Tuning in to the song’s rhythm, I keep my mind blank.

My only thought at this point: completing the task at hand, but don’t get stiff while doing it.

"GO!"

Against my better judgment, the girls do cheer us on as we start walking. I couldn’t help but eat it up as I went; the crowd's noise basically powering me forward every step of the way. Remembering to keep my posture straight and poised, I moved to the beat of the music, timing my steps with the notes. When I reached the end, I did three quick poses - nothing to out there of course - before turning back, Hinata matching me step for step.

I couldn’t help but notice how determined she looked in the eyes, and I couldn't help but be a little proud of her for pulling herself together for the sake of this moment. The judges were smiling as we made our return, and I so hope that was boding good news for us. As soon as we reached the starting point, Anko raised her hand, signaling for the music to stop, the applause ringing as everyone clapped up our performance.

Whether it’s because they were glad it was finally over or because they were genuinely happy for us, I have no clue.

"That was good! Let me correct that: That was damned good!!!!" Anko cries, grinning from ear-to-ear as she continued clapping at a slow, measured pace. "Let me be the first to say this: that was some of the best performances we saw today. You two were just on fire from start to finish."

"Thank you!" Hinata and I manage to say, both bowing our heads in gratitude.

"I’ll start with you Hinata. You have a poise and elegance that I greatly appreciate. If you can just put a little more strength into that step, then you will have yourself an A+ walk," Anko advises before turning her attention to me. "And Izuka, your walk was all about the strength, and it also has a great musicality to it. You found the rhythm of the music and just went with it, and that's what a good model does!"

"I agree," says Hayate as he shakes his head. "You are two different people. You both have very different walks, and yet they work so well together, and on an individual level. Hinata, you really do have this elegance and grace that works for you, while Izuka, your walk has confidence, rhythm, and power. These two styles usually contrast with each other when they're put side-by-side on a runway, but you two somehow made it work! It’s like you worked together on this."

“Do you two know each other outside of this by any chance?” Genma asks, curious.

“No, we only met each other today.” Hinata answers, leaving me to just shake my head in agreement.

“The fact that you’ve only met each other today, yet you worked so well together on the runway is both spooky and fantastic. I just liked the entire thing.” Genma adds, shaking his head in what I can only describe as startled disbelief.

"Not only were your walks impressive, you both are quite striking in your own special ways," says Hayate as he scratches the back of his neck. "I can say with great certainty that I have never seen models that look like either of you in my long career, and I’ve been working for quite a while."

“Some say you work yourself sick.”

“All for the sake of my craft Genma . . . All for the sake of my craft.”

"I'd say. . .” Anko mumbles before turning her attention back to Hinata, her face becoming surprisingly apologetic. “Anyway, before we continue on, I owe you an apology Hinata, because when I saw you walking up to the runway, to be honest, I thought you were blind at first glance. . . What's the story behind your eyes, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh . . . It’s actually a common trait shared by most in my family. It's basically this genetic eye condition that makes us look like we're blind when we're actually not. Our eyes work like normal, down to the pupils, except our eyes are so pale that you can't actually see the pupils at first glance." Hinata calmly explains as she folded her hands together.

"I see,” Hayate mumbles, suddenly turning his eyes on me. “As for you Izuka, you have this natural ‘ice queen’ look to you, but as soon as you cracked your first smile in our presence, you just instantly warmed up. Like night and day."

“I tend to get that a lot.”

Not really, but I thought it was a good thing to say.

"Is that mascara you're wearing? I think it is, but I have a sudden feeling it’s not.”

"It's actually not mascara, or eyeliner for that matter," I say with a shake of my head. "It’s a result of my insomnia, actually. . ."

"So those are insomnia rings around your eyes? Not mascara or eyeliner?" Anko asks me in shock. "Wow, you look wide awake to me! Like I didn’t see a trace of sleepiness or sluggishness in your walk."

"I try to not let my insomnia get the best of me," I say, inwardly grateful for that kind of compliment. "It's something I've had for years now, and I try to not let it affect my life, and I'm not letting it affect me now. . . I’m sure designers and agencies might think my look is a little too ice queen-ish for their liking, but I'm not going to let that stop me from making it in this industry."

"I see, and what about you Hinata?" Anko asks as she turned her attention back on her. "Do you think the fashion world is ready for girls that have your kind of look?"

"I'm certain it is . . . The fashion industry has always been known to introduce new trends practically every season. It's always ready for something new, something fresh, from clothes to models, and I believe I am one of the things that the fashion world is looking for." Hinata says, her voice sounding confident and elegant at the same time. . . . She really did find her inner light.

"I see . . . Well then girls, if you can just please give me and my fellow judges one quick moment to discuss some things. We’ll be back with you shortly." Genma says before quickly huddling up with his fellow judges. They were like this for the next two minutes, quietly whispering amongst themselves as our audience started buzzing in turn. Watching them talk was making me a little antsy - Hinata wasn’t looking much better - but I refused to start shuffling where I stood. I was feeling a little too stubborn right now to show any weakness.

Eventually, their discussion comes to an end, and they look back up at us with grins on their faces. Anko had the biggest one of all.

"Hinata, Izuka, you two have really given us a great first impression," she starts off, her smile somehow getting bigger with each other. "We put both your runway walks and what you've told us about yourselves into great consideration, and we’ve decided that you two deserve it."

"Deserve what?" Hinata asks, shock slowly coming across her face as I looked at them totally confused.

"You deserve to be in this competition," Anko says as Hayate and Genma each pull out a golden ticket with fancy, cursive writing on the front.

I had a feeling I knew exactly what they were.

“Congratulations you two! You both are being Fast Tracked to the semifinals!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	3. Gathering Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The models gather in Osaka for the start of the semifinals.

**_A few weeks later_ **

" _Congratulations you two; you both are being Fast Tracked to the semifinals!"_

Those 12 words were music to my ears.

They sealed my fate, turning me from an unknown model wannabe to one of the 100 semifinalists of the biggest modelling competition in the country.

It was those same 12 words that landed me here, Osaka International Airport, the meeting ground for us lucky 100. There would be staring, sizing up, and overall judging between the lot of us, but I was ready.

Getting judged for my lack of sleep and slightly introverted attitude, and internally judging people in return for so many years now makes for good practice in the ‘getting judged, judging you’ department.

Like I said, I’m ready.

I still couldn't believe that I was actually Fast Tracked to the next round, _to this moment_. Me, out of thousands upon thousands of girls, was instantly moved on to the next step, just like that.

I was absolutely on cloud nine when I heard those fateful words, and I wanted to do a happy dance as soon as possible, but I figured it was rude to do that in front of all the other girls in the room, so I just did it once I got outside the building, regardless of all the staring that came my way.

Hey, you can't blame a girl for celebrating such a big accomplishment can ya?

About a month ago, I received a letter from the competition producers that stated the entire overview of semifinals week, what was required and needed for the rest of the competition, and my ticket for a flight to Osaka, one of Japan’s biggest cities.

I've lived in the large Konoha neighborhood of Tokyo all my life, and I haven't been out of my hometown for more than two days, so coming to Osaka was going to be quite the eye opener for me, a new adventure that I was ready to be a part of.

"Wow, I never realized Osaka's airport was this huge! It's not as big as Tokyo's, but still . . ." I hear Naruto say, cheeky grin plastered on his face as we stood at the conveyor belt assigned to our flight. He had napped through our entire 90-minute flight, and he didn’t look worse for weary, just happy to be here, just like me.

Unlike me, Naruto didn't earn a Fast Track to the semifinals, simply because all three awards up for grabs on the boys' side were already awarded before he had his chance to audition.

Ten days had to pass before he got the call to the promised land.

"You do know this is just the smaller, domestic airport, right?" I ask as I spot our bags coming down the conveyor belt. "Osaka has a second, bigger airport that handles the international flights."

"Huh, well, thanks for clearing that up for me I guess," he mumbles, plucking up his orange suitcase and my purple one off the belt with ease. "So, where are we supposed to go now again?"

"Well, the letter says that once we exit the airport, we're supposed to turn right and walk to the very end of the terminal. That’s where everyone is supposed to gather," I say as I take out the paper from my pocket. We move to the exit, and once we get outside, we move to where we’re supposed to go.

We knew we were in the right place once we spotted the black and white sign with the words 'Semifinalists Wait Here!' in elegant curly script standing tall by the curb. Next to the sign was about 80 of our fellow competition.

Let the judging begin.

"It looks like we don't have to wait long. Most of the competition is here already," I hear my brother say as I looked through the crowd. "Sis, what are you doing?"

"I'm looking to see if Hinata is here," I say, my eyes looking for indigo hair. "I told you about her, remember? She's the other model that earned the Fast Track award with me when it was our turn to audition."

"Oh, the girl that looks blind but really isn't? I remember," Naruto tells me, bringing a hand to his chin. "When you were telling me that story, it reminded me of a long-haired guy I met during castings. He also had pale eyes that made it look like he was blind."

"That was probably her cousin Neji you met. She told me that he was also auditioning that day," I say as I finally see her walking over from further down the terminal. A tall guy with similar eyes to her own was following about ten feet behind her. That must be Neji. "Hi Hinata! It's so nice to see you again!"

"It's nice to see you too Izuka," she tells me with a slightly timid smile. Old habits die hard, I guess. 

She then turns to my brother, and I couldn't help but notice the slight blush that started appearing on her face as her pale, lavender tinted eyes look at Naruto's ocean blue ones, and I think they were looking in _deep_. "Oh, hi, nice to meet you. I'm Hinata."

"The name’s Naruto. Nice to meet you too," Naruto says, letting out a surprisingly nervous chuckle. "I-I'm Izuka's brother."

"Since when did you stutter?"

"Since . . . now, I guess?" Naruto reluctantly mumbles, looking away from my suspicious gaze. His comment earns him a small chuckle from Hinata, which looked to put him at ease just a little, if his sheepish expression was anything to go by. "It’s good to see you again Neji."

"Likewise, Naruto," the long-haired man says, stoic in his demeanor. "I always had a good feeling that you were going to make it the semifinals. . . How long did you have to wait until you got the call?"

"10 days, unlike you, who got Fast Tracked here," came Naruto’s easy reply. "C’mon, most of the guys in that room figured you were a definite shoo in for one of those awards. As soon as they saw your eyes and composed demeanor, pffth, game over."

"I guess you can say that" Neji says rather reluctantly as he turned to me. "You must be Naruto's sister Izuka. It’s nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I say as I peeked over his shoulder to see another model walking over to our ranks. She was dressed in a green top with a gold Chinese dragon design on its front, black knee length shorts, and black sandals. Her most noticeable feature was her dark brown hair, which was done up into two hair buns. Her brown eyes were directed right on Neji. "Uh, Neji, a girl with two hair buns is looking directly at you for some reason."

"Did you just say two hair buns?" he asks, just as the girl suddenly hugs him from behind, a smile shining on her face. "Oh, hi TenTen."

"It's nice to see you too Neji. Hey Hinata!" the girl quickly says, giving Hinata a hug before she had a chance to refuse. "I see you two are already making some new friends without me."

"Naruto, Izuka, this is TenTen," says Hinata, acting as a medium as she gestured between us. "TenTen, this is Izuka and Naruto. They're the siblings we met during the morning auditions."

"Nice to meet you both," TenTen says with a nod of her head. "Is everyone here? I'm ready to get this show on the road already!"

"If I counted correctly, there's about 97 of us here now," I say as I looked around the large group. "There's supposed to be 100 of us, so three more need to show up before anything else happens I guess."

"At least we don't have to wait long for them to show up," Naruto says as his eyes stayed glued on the terminal walkway. "Cause I think I see them coming right now!"

We all turn our heads to see three people walking over with their luggage in tow. Despite the large differences in their outward appearances, I had a pretty good feeling they were all related in some way.

There were two guys and a girl. The girl had sandy colored hair that was pulled up into four distinct pigtails, deep green eyes, and was dressed in a simple blue kimono top, black jeans, and black ankle boots. She didn’t wear any noticeable makeup or jewelry, but she did carry an air around her that just read ' _I'm the oldest, and the smartest_ '!

The first guy behind her had shaggy brown hair that looked like it needed a brush, black eyes, and was dressed in a simple black t-shirt with the phrase ‘Puppets Rock’ on the front, jeans, and sneakers. He looked at us with an expression that was almost naturally serious, with his mouth already set in a straight line.

The second guy behind him was probably the youngest of the three, and in my opinion, _one of the hottest guys I've ever seen in my short life_.

Unlike the two people with him, he had vibrant red hair that was set in a spiky style similar to Naruto's own, except while most of my brother's hair went upward and to the sides, a sizeable amount of the redhead's hair covered his forehead like a typical bang. The kanji for love was tattooed on the side of his forehead that wasn't covered by hair, and he was dressed very nicely in a dark red shirt, black leather jacket, black jeans, and black military style boots.

Despite the tattoo and his bright red hair, I thought his eyes were his most distinct feature on his person. Not only were they this striking jade green color, but there were dark rings circling around them. Most people would think that it was all due to a heavy use of eyeliner - or _guy-liner_ \- but I had a feeling I knew otherwise. It didn’t really look like eyeliner to me . . .

. . . They looked more like _insomnia rings_. Granted, they were thicker than mine, but they looked like insomnia rings all the same.

"Of course, it’s the Sand Siblings . . ." TenTen says, a sheepish smirk pulling at her lips. "You guys heard about them, right? They're the trio of siblings that all got Fast Tracked here."

"Oh yeah, I saw it on the competition’s official website," Naruto says, a look of realization now showing on his face. "They earned those awards after auditioning at the Fukuoka casting call. Isn’t their dad the mayor of the city?"

"You would be right on that one Naruto," says Neji, bringing a hand to his chin. "Mayor Rasa Sabakuno is their dad, and not only is he in the news there regularly because of his job, but his kids have also shown that they have quite the media presence as well . . . Now that I think about it, it kinda makes you wonder why they joined this competition in the first place. With all the media attention they get already, I’m sure agencies would have been happy to sign them by now."

“Now that you mentioned it. The children of the mayor of one of Japan’s largest cities all end up getting Fast Tracked here?!” Naruto asks, suspicion lacing his tone. “Either they are simply just that good, or I smell an inside job.”

"The world of politics I guess . . . Anyway, why are they in the news so much exactly?" I ask as I notice the redhead staring at me from the corner of my eye. His face remained stoic as his gaze lingered on me before turning back to his siblings, who were already walking toward the middle of the large group.

_Wait, was he checking me out!?_

"Well, the girl, Temari, is known to be quite the genius. She has a very high IQ and is said to be one of the only people in Fukuoka’s history to score a perfect grade on her college entrance exams.” TenTen lists off as she pointed to the pigtailed girl.

“Kankuro’s the brunette. He has been helping to build up the city's entertainment industry, mainly in the theater district. And the youngest, Gaara, was known to be quite the troublemaker when he was younger. Even had a few scraps with the law, but nothing truly major that it hurt his father’s chances in the mayoral race.”

“He sounds like an interesting character.” Hinata mumbles, sneaking a glance at the redhead, who was watching a plane take off to who knows where.

“I don't think he's really doing much these days that would attract media attention, but it is said that he's gained somewhat of a cult following among the young female population in his hometown because of his good looks," TenTen tells us helpfully as she leaned against Neji’s frame. "He's also known as a chronic insomniac, so he doesn't really sleep much, or at all, more specifically."

"Huh, just like you sis." Naruto says as I shoot him a narrow-eyed look.

"Uh, TenTen, how do you know all this?" Hinata asks, a curious look crossing her face as she turned to the brunette bunhead.

"I have my sources," TenTen answers rather cryptically as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's just say that if you need to know something that's been in the media spotlight, I'm your go-to girl."

"That's good to know . . . I guess," I say unsurely, just as the sound of a loud bus horn bursts through the rather hushed atmosphere. Everyone turned their heads to see two coach buses pulling up beside us on the curb. One bus was purple while the other was painted blue, and both had the 'You Wanna Be on Top?' logo in its familiar fancy script painted right on their sides.

Of course, their arrival was met with thunderous applause.

"Oh great. Our ride's here."

“Ooh,” I hear TenTen whisper. “This should be good.”

As soon as the buses came to a stop, the door on the first but opened up to allow two men out. They were dressed in stylish clothing, their appearance earning rapturous applause from all around, and I couldn't blame them.

We were looking right at Kakashi Hatake and Yamato, the highly esteemed and respected creative director and runway coach of 'You Wanna Be on Top?'. Yamato was known for his nice and witty attitude while Kakashi served as his sarcastic, yet more realistic counterpart, and their teamwork in this competition was known to work wonders when it came to shaping future models. These two are living legends in the fashion industry, and just seeing them with our own mortal eyes was amazing, to say the least.

"Hello everyone!" Yamato calls out once the crowd quieted down. "First of all, I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far! Out of thousands and thousands of applications from across the country, you all have been picked as this year’s Top 100! Welcome to Semifinals Week!"

"Some of you impressed the preliminary judges well enough to be Fast Tracked here. The rest of you had to wait through agonizing weeks to learn your fate," Kakashi says with a nod of his head, his voice sounding clear even with his well-known ninja mask covering the lower half of his face. "But despite the differences in how you all made it here today, you proved that there is a reason why you earned your spot here, and you guys are all here for the same thing: To win this competition!"

"This competition, as well as modelling in general, requires a lot of work, so I don't want to see any of you slacking here. Many others are wishing that they were in your shoes right now, so I don't want to see any of you guys squandering this opportunity!" Yamato warns us with a narrow-eyed look, silencing everyone right in their tracks. "But for now, let's get down to business. Shall we?"

"As you can see, there are two buses behind Yamato and me. They will be transporting us to the hotel that will be hosting us for the week," Kakashi adds as he gestured to the two large vehicles. "There are 50 girls and 50 guys in the running, but we're going to split you up for a bit. The girls will be traveling with Yamato on the purple bus, while the boys will be riding with me on the blue one."

"But before we get on board, we need to do a little roll call," Yamato says with a grin as the two men each pull out a piece of paper from their pockets. "My list contains all the girls' names and polaroid shots while Kakashi hold the list for the boys. When you hear your name, put your luggage into the compartments on the side here and get on board . . .”

“We do this to make sure that the people that are supposed to be here are here. We've had instances in the past where people would sneak in pretending to be semifinalists when they're not. It's never fun when that happens," Kakashi says with a sad shake of his head as he starts walking over to the blue bus. "Male models; please follow me over here."

"I wonder how many models are going to make it to the final stage . . ." I hear Hinata mumble as the boys started following Kakashi. "They change the number every year to make it unpredictable."

"Who knows?" I say as Yamato says the first couple of names. "All I know is that it depends on how many people impress Kakashi, Yamato, and Tsunade. They determine who moves on and who doesn't."

"I just can't wait to meet Tsunade-sama!" TenTen instantly gushes as she starts acting all fan girl on us. "She's one of my all-time favorite celebrities!"

"I have the sudden feeling that you are going to probably break down into hysterics once you see her." I tell her bluntly as Hinata nods her head in agreement.

"I . . . I think you may be right on that one." TenTen reluctantly concedes as she calmed down. It took a good half hour to get everyone on the bus, and once Yamato was assured that all the girls were here and accounted for, he checked with Kakashi to make sure that all was well on his end before telling the driver to go.

Most of the ride was filled with the sounds of girls chatting, being friendly, and sizing each other up, with the always classic proclamation of ‘ _I’m going to win this entire thing!_ ’ splattered here and there. While Hinata and TenTen talked with each other, I looked out the window to enjoy the view the city before us. With its tall skyscrapers and eclectic air, Osaka easily reminded me of Tokyo, although it was a lot less crowded than our nation’s capital.

It took us about 45 minutes to travel from the airport to the hotel, a 20-story tower in the middle of downtown Osaka. Once we pulled up to the curb, we disembarked and gathered our luggage before following Kakashi and Yamato inside.

The lobby was a testament to modern and traditional elements of Japanese design and architecture, designed in shades of silver and royal blue. It was easy to picture celebrities and businessmen alike schmoozing and mingling around with each other in a place like this. This place looked so sleek and new that I was afraid to touch anything.

"Everyone, welcome to the Sapphire Osaka Hotel, a home of both business and leisure here in downtown Osaka," Yamato says with a smirk as he gestures to the building all around us. "This will be your home throughout the week."

"As Yamato said, this hotel is known for being both a place of business and leisure. However, in your case, it's mostly for business," Kakashi tells us with a narrow look of his eyes. "Over the course of this week, there will be cuts. We will be steadily losing models over the next few days, and by the end of the week, most of you will be eliminated."

"That's so nice to know . . ." TenTen sarcastically whispers in my ear, and I couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Eliminations were never fun.

"However, this is your first day. The competition doesn't start in earnest till tomorrow morning," Yamato says with a smirk. "So, I suggest you rest up today and tonight because you have a lot ahead of you."

"For now, check in at the main desk. Once you get your room assignments, head up to your suites and settle in," Kakashi says as he points to the desk behind him. "Yamato and I are leaving you for now, but we will see you again real soon. For now, goodbye and welcome to the competition everyone!"


	4. Line Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Convo on the line, and settling in the hotel room.

As soon as Kakashi and Yamato walked out of the lobby through the entrance we just went through, everyone made a mad dash for the check in desk, practically scaring the workers sitting there half to death with the sudden onslaught.

Well, almost everyone. I did not want to get stuck in all that mess, so I decided to stay back until the line was more straightened out, and shorter.

I wasn’t the only one to hang back either. Hinata, TenTen, Neji, and the Sabakuno siblings were also staying behind. I didn't need to look to see if Naruto was among the crowd. With his kind of personality, it's basically a no-brainer at this point.

"I really don't get it," Hinata says, her voice finally breaking the momentary silence that had befallen our little group. "Our rooms must have been assigned to us already, and yet people still rushed to the desk as if the first ones there are going to get the best rooms."

"Our rooms may have been pre-arraigned for us, but I must point out that our beds sure haven't," I say with a smirk as we watched as the crowd finally formed into a reasonable-looking line. "It's pretty simple if you think about it. The hotel has definitely not arraigned for 100 rooms to be available to each and every semifinalist to have for themselves. It’s simply not possible, no matter how much we wish it was. . . We're going to have roommates, and unfortunately, some people can get pretty picky when it comes to choosing where they want to rest their heads."

"I can see where you're going with this. It's basically a case of 'first come, first serve'," TenTen adds, leading me to nod my head in confirmation. "Whoever gets to their room first will get the first pick of the beds . . . And now that I think about it, I'm kinda regretting not joining the line when I could have."

"This hotel looks like one that really likes to maintain whatever high standards it has, so I think a bad bed will be the least of your worries TenTen," says Neji, playful sarcasm lacing his tone as we joined the line just behind the siblings. "What you really should be focusing on is the competition. I'd hate to see you go in the first round just because you didn’t keep your head in the game."

"Like I would ever let that happen," TenTen says with a megawatt smile. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let myself get eliminated in the first round."

"If you want my advice, I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you."

At the sound of the new voice, we all turn to see Temari Sabakuno looking at us over her shoulder, a small smirk lining her face. Her brother Kankuro was moving his gaze between us and the rest of the line while Gaara kept looking straight ahead, as if his sister's sudden intrusion into our little conversation wasn't worth his time.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your little talk just now," Temari says, her smirk still in place. "It's nice to show some confidence, but you don't want to show too much that it makes you sound cocky and arrogant, do you?"

"Like you're starting to sound right now?" TenTen couldn't help but ask as she rearranged her features into a composed façade. Temari, admittedly, looked slightly impressed, not showing that she was fazed in the slightest by the well said comeback.

"You think I sound arrogant?" Temari asked, crossing her hands over her well-developed chest.

"Well you certainly look it from where I'm standing," TenTen said, grinning from ear to ear, her voice challenging as she maintained eye contact with the blonde. "Let me ask you this: Are you this arrogant at home?"

"You have no idea . . ." Kankuro whispers under his breath, but it was still loud enough that we all heard it. Temari slapped his right shoulder, hard, as a result. "C'mon sis, we both know you got an arrogant streak to you."

"Still can't get over the fact that I have a higher IQ than you can ya?" she asks him, not a hint of shame found in her tone. Kankuro ended up rolling his eyes at the remark, but that only made his sister smirk even more. "C'mon Kankuro, we both know you rolling your eyes is a dead giveaway when your annoyed over something."

"No one likes a braggart sis, and yes. Yes, I admit that I get annoyed whenever you start showing off your intellect, just as much as you get annoyed when that Nara kid you always go up against in academic competitions beats you. . . You end up pouting up a storm for the rest of the day every time."

"I don't get annoyed when Shikamaru beats me!" says Temari in an attempt to appear unbothered by what her brother just said.

She was failing miserably.

We all stared at her unconvinced, except Gaara, who kept looking forward, giving no indication that he was even paying attention. After looking at each of our unconvinced faces, Temari, looking defeated, quickly recanted. "Okay, so I do get annoyed when he beats me. It’s just that, I don't understand how he does it! He's got to be one of the laziest people in all of Japan! He acts like a complete slacker and he doesn’t seem to pay attention for long. . . He's so lazy that the only reason he even competes on the academic competition circuit is because his mom forces him to do it!"

"I'll be honest. I don't get how he does it either," Kankuro adds as he scratches the back of his neck. "He's even admitted that he doesn't even prepare for the competitions, not even on the night before! No fanfare, no showing off. He’s just in, does his work, wins, collects his prize, and he’s out, and here’s the kicker. No one can ever prove that he's cheating or not, which means he is either the most devious sneak known to man, or an absolute genius that none of us can even try to comprehend."

"Wait a minute . . . Shikamaru Nara. I think I’ve heard of that name before," I say, bringing a hand to my chin. "Isn’t he the son of one of the brightest professors teaching at Tokyo University? The one known for wearing his hair in a ponytail that makes his head look like a pineapple?"

"Like that guy down the line, right next to the other guy with the long, spiky brown hair?" Hinata asks, pointing forward. We follow her finger to see two guys about 20 people away talking to each other. The guy with the spiky brown hair was chowing down on a bag of chips as he listened to the other guy talk, his dark hair styled in a ponytail that reminded me of a certain tropical fruit. "Something like that, right?"

"'Something like that', I think, is a bit of an understatement Hinata," I say as the ponytailed guy turned his head, giving us a good view of his profile. "I think that is him! It’s way too much of a coincidence not to be him."

"I can't believe it!" Temari says, watching him with irritation in her eyes. "Shikamaru Nara is here! He's actually fucking here!? When did he get interested in modelling?"

"Maybe his mother forced him to do this too?" Kankuro suggested as we continued shuffling forward. Temari's eyes were like piercing daggers as she stared at her brother, who quickly averted his eyes to avoid the full effect. "Okay, pretend I didn't ask."

"You shouldn't be focusing on him so much Temari. It’ll only stress you out even more."

As soon as we heard her other brother’s voice - and my, isn’t it _deep_ \- we all turned to see him looking at us from over his shoulder. Like seriously, he has the raspy voice of a man that has already lived on this Earth for many decades now, and yet he doesn't even look older than 20, tops.

And it's so damn smooth too! No wonder he's been gaining a cult following among the girls in his hometown . . . Not that I care, well, too much.

"Gaara," Temari said unsurely, as if she had no clue on what to make of her brother's sudden interruption. "You were actually listening in to our conversation?"

"How could I not? I've been standing right here the entire time. It was hard to ignore it," he tells her, shrugging. "I must admit though, I’m usually not one for butting in to trivial conversations like this, so I hope you guys can excuse the interruption."

"He's dressed like he's part of a biker gang, yet speaks in the tongue of a perfect gentleman," Kankuro says with a smirk, already used to how his brother acts toward people. "That's basically our little brother in a nutshell for ya folks. Get used to it."

"As I was saying before, Temari, you shouldn't be so hung up on the fact that Shikamaru is here," Gaara continued, ignoring his brother's commentary. "So, what if he’s a semifinalist? That shouldn’t be something that troubles you. Be more concerned with yourself. . . If you want to make it far in this competition, focus on you, not on the other guy."

"Unless she likes him . . ."

Kankuro narrowly dodges an elbow to the gut, the act courtesy of his seething sister. "Hey! Don’t elbow me! All I'm saying is that it's possible, and that's it. Sue me!"

"Huh, this conversation has really gone into a different direction hasn't it?" Neji mumbles as he crossed his arms. "It went from TenTen and Temari trading barbs with each other to Temari being called out by her own brother about needing to focus more."

"Eh, I don’t care, I'm completely over it anyway," TenTen says with a small shake of her head. "All I want to do is go upstairs, get to my room, and claim my bed already!"

She wasn’t the only one.

* * *

**x ~ Y ~ W ~ B ~ O ~ T ~ x**

"Alright ladies, we have arrived! Suite 9-K!" Temari says with a confident grin as we finally pulled up to our room. It was the last door on the eastern side of the hotel's ninth floor, which served as the designated 'girls wing'. The tenth floor belonged to the boys. "Now then, I believe it's best if we just walked into the room in an orderly fashion rather than fight with each other on the way in."

"Is this your way of raising your chances in getting a better bed, because if it is, you're not hiding it well," TenTen says, being the picture of skepticism with her hands on her hips. "If you ask me, I’d say let’s just go with the 'first come, first serve' approach. This competition is pretty much survival of the fittest, living arrangements included. To the loser goes the spoils; that's what my Mom likes to say."

"Your mom sounds like quite the cutthroat, and you're only saying that because you want to rush in there and claim the first bed you see!" Temari bites back as she slides the room key through the lock. As soon as the door is open, TenTen barrels right past the blonde and into the room with her luggage in tow, making Temari scowl even more. "See what I mean?! You just proved my point!"

"Hey! I never said you were wrong, did I?" TenTen calls back as we hear a door slam shut somewhere inside. Temari mumbles some rather vulgar words to herself before stomping into the room, leaving Hinata and I alone in the hallway.

"Those two don't seem to get along with each other very well." Hinata mumbles as she steps into the suite.

"Let's just hope they don't kill each other. I’m not in the mood get any bloodstains on my clothes," I say as I bring up the rear, closing the door behind me before joining the others in the living room area. "I don't want to be called up to be a witness in a murder trial anytime soon okay?"

"I’ll keep that in mind when I organize my legal team. I’m sure they’ll have to subpoena you in that case," Temari grumbles as she crosses her arms. "Alright then, TenTen has made it quite clear that the main bedroom is going to be hers. That room only has one bed, which leaves us with the two beds in the other bedroom up for grabs."

"Then that means one of us would either have to share with TenTen - since the main bedroom always has the bigger bed - or sleep on the couch." Hinata concludes as she points to said piece of furniture off to our left.

"How bout I just save us the trouble and take the couch for myself?" I suggest as I throw my bag right onto the cushions. "I'm an insomniac, so I barely sleep anyway. It would be redundant for me to take a bed when one of you guys will need it way more than I do."

"That sounds reasonable enough to me," TenTen says, smirking all the way to the kitchen. "Right now, I need a drink."

"Are you sure about this Izuka?" Hinata asks, ever the unsure one. "I mean, you don't really need to sleep on the couch. You could badger TenTen about sharing the master bed."

"It’s okay Hinata. Like I said, I barely sleep, so why bother anyway?" I ask as I walked into the kitchen to see TenTen reading a notecard. "What's with the note TenTen?"

"Ladies, we got Tsunade Mail!" she exclaims as she waved it in the air. Temari and Hinata both run in before TenTen could even finished saying ‘Tsunade’, their eyes going straight to the item that TenTen was rereading.

_“Models,_

_Congrats on making it to the semifinals._

_Make sure to dress your best tomorrow because you'll be_ _stomping it out to keep your spot in the competition._

_Cuts are coming._

_Love, Tsunade."_

"’Stomping it out' can only mean one thing," Temari mumbles as she brings a hand to her chin. "Tomorrow’s a runway challenge!"

"I wonder how many are going to be cut after the first round though," Hinata whispers, but it wasn't low enough that the rest of us couldn't hear it. "The thought of eliminations already really makes me worry. . ."

"Don't sweat it Hinata!" TenTen exclaims as she sets down the note. "As long as you do your damn best, you shouldn't have any problem moving on to the next round. I guarantee it."

“Can I get that in writing? I’m sure it’ll make me feel better.” Apparently, even the Hyuga has jokes.

"I hate to admit it, but TenTen does make a good point," Temari reluctantly admits, slightly scowling when the double bun wearing model grins victoriously. "Besides, you'll never get anywhere without trying your hardest first. Right?"

"You can either agree or disagree, but that is some good advice," I say with a small nod of my head. "Ladies, tomorrow is when the real work begins. We got a lot ahead of us. Let’s make it count."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you like!


	5. Round One Runway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The models gear up for their first challenge of the semifinals.

**_The next day_ **

"You girls ready to go yet?!" I call out from my spot by the door. I was the first - and so far, _only_ \- one to be fully prepared to head downstairs to take on the challenges ahead. Everyone else were no shows so far.

Then again, my insomnia did give me the perk of being awake when everyone else was asleep, thus allowing me to enjoy the bathroom for as long as I wanted to while everyone was still snoozing.

Not being able to sleep is a pain in the ass, but it does have its advantages.

Just as the Tsunade Mail advised us, I was dressed at my very fashionable best in my white halter top with lace detailing, dark blue skinny jeans that hugged my every curve, my black blazer, and, of course, my black suede pumps that provided me a few good inches without hurting my toes.

I opted to go simple but with a hint of detail for this first challenge, and this wasn’t a choice I made lightly. Thanks to the years I’ve spent following this competition - not to the level that TenTen has of course - one of the many things I've learned is that simplicity always works when it comes to making a good impression.

The professionals just eat that stuff up. Since natural beauty is such an important thing in this industry, it’s best to just keep things simple instead of piling on all the makeup and accessories, especially when you want to make a good first showing.

"I'm ready to go!" TenTen exclaims as she finally walks out from her room. She was dressed in a black top with sheer long sleeves, white shorts, and black wedge heels. Her hair remained in its signature two bun style. "See, I didn't take that long!  I can't say the same for Temari and Hinata though."

"Keep your commentary to yourself TenTen," Temari growls as she and Hinata emerged from their room. The Fukuoka native was dressed in a simple kimono-style blue dress with silver heels while Hinata was dressed in a sleeveless lavender dress with silver Mary Jane pumps. Both were rocking their usual hairstyles. "I don't need your words bumming my mood, especially this early in the morning. I have enough things to worry about today without you adding to it."

"Girl, we all have enough things to worry about right now," TenTen says as we step into the hallway. "We're showing off our walks today! Yamato - aka, Mr. Runway himself - is always present during the semifinal runway round, and he’s known for not playing games when it comes to this event."

"I can't help but agree with you on that one," I say as we moved to the elevators, where another group of semifinalists were already waiting for the next ride down. "Yamato has helped improve the walks of some of the most famous models working right now. Modeling agencies pay him a high price for his services and expertise, so he's definitely someone that knows what he's doing."

"Are you kidding me!? Yamato really makes his opinions known when he’s in coach mode. He'll call you out mid-stride and let you have it . . . He’s never malicious with his critiques. He’ll let you know when your walk is good, and he’ll _especially_ let you know when your walk is terrible." Temari says with a small shake of her head. “He even has a certain look that appears that just signals he’s seen an especially bad one . . . Ugh, it gives me shivers every time I think about it.”

"Let’s just hope he likes all of our walks, for all of our sakes,” I mumble. “During the semifinals six years ago, he made six girls cry with his critiques. Then again, their walks were obviously bad, but still, Yamato has proven that he can be a tough judge despite his easy-going personality."

"I just hope he doesn't pull that face," Hinata mumbles as the elevator doors finally slid open, revealing the empty cart instead. “It’s an expression that just deserves its own horror movie moment, and I hate that genre.”

"I think it actually appeared in a horror movie once," TenTen grumbles as we entered the elevator. ". . . I could be wrong though.”

We head down to the second floor and follow the signs till we reached the hotel's large conference room. The area was completely cleared of all the furniture that made the room a conference room. Instead, we were greeted with the sight of an elevated black platform that stretched from one end of the room to another, surrounded on either side by the rest of our competition.

"Yep, this is definitely the runway challenge," I say as I eye the long structure before us. "How many of us are already here?"

"Likely most of the field," Temari answers as she looks around the room, looking like she was already taking in a mental headcount. "Girls, I see Neji and the others right at the back of the room."

"Then what are we waiting for?" TenTen asks a little too eagerly as she starts walking ahead. "Let's go keep them company!"

"I never realized how chipper TenTen can be in the morning."

"I guess she's just happy to see Neji again Izuka," Temari replies as we trek over to the boys, narrowly avoiding our fellow models as they practiced their walks. "Maybe she has feelings for him, you know? Not the 'friend' kind of feelings. More like the 'more than a friend' variety. You know what I mean?"

"That could be it," I say as we reached the rest of our motley crew. While Neji, Gaara, and Kankuro greeted us with friendly hellos, Naruto settles for a big smile, which wavered as soon as his eyes landed on Hinata. I guess TenTen isn't the only one who has 'feelings' for someone else in this competition. "So boys, do you have any idea how long it'll be before the runway round begins?"

"Supposed to start any minute now," Kankuro answers with a smirk. "I guess it all depends on how long it'll be before Yamato and the other judges show up."

"Can everyone gather around the runway please!?"

"Not long now it seems, and speaking of the runway coach . . ." Gaara sighs as all our heads turn to the entrance to see Yamato and Kakashi stand before the exit, dressed stylishly as always.

"Gather round everybody! Gather round!" Yamato exclaims, doing all the talking as Kakashi walked up the small staircase that led to the runway platform. "Morning models, you all look well-rested. Good, because you will definitely be needing it to perform at your very best today!"

"As you can obviously see, we’re doing runway today." Kakashi explains as Yamato joins him on the platform, his expression unreadable. "Right after this challenge, you will be doing a photoshoot in the other conference room down the hallway. I'll tell you the rest of the details once the challenge is over."

"Now then, you all had to walk for judges back in the preliminary rounds. All of those walks, as well as your auditions themselves, have been videotaped and reviewed by me, Kakashi, and of course, Lady Tsunade herself," Yamato adds. "Today, you are walking once again, this time for Kakashi and me. You'll be doing the usual routine, however, this challenge will be split into three rounds. One round will comprise of all the girls, the second round will be guys only. . ."

". . . And our third round will have you all paired up, one guy with one girl. For this instance, no single gender pairings are allowed. Sorry, but maybe next time," Kakashi says while wagging his finger in a _no-no_ gesture. "Right now, we'll start with pairs. We are going to give you one minute to find yourselves a partner, and one minute only."

"Remember, your partner has to be of the  _opposite_  gender," Yamato reminds us, his grin teasing. "One minute is all you're going to get. Don’t even think about asking for extra time. Ready? Go!"

"I call Neji!" TenTen calls out, quickly wrapping her arms around one of Neji's own, catching the Hyuga completely off guard, and off balance. "What?! Don’t look at me like that. I said what I said, and I delivered. He's taken, so go find your own partners!"

"Huh, should have figured you were going to pull something like this," Temari grumbles, shooting TenTen a pointed look before turning to Kankuro. "Kankuro, let's be partners."

"I guess that's okay . . ." the middle sibling says as he shoots a quick look Naruto and Hinata's way. Judging from how close they were and how they were whispering to each other, I think it’s safe to say that those two were going to work together on this one. "Hey Gaara! I guess that leaves you with Izuka huh?"

"Why do you say that as if there's no one else available?" Gaara couldn't help but ask as he shoots his brother a blank look.

"Because there’s no one else available," Kankuro says as he gestures to the rest of the playing field. To put it bluntly, everyone else had found a partner except for Gaara and myself. . . How convenient. "Everyone else already paired up. You and Izuka are basically forced to team up now. . . Hopefully, neither of you two will suddenly fall asleep on the runway and face plant. That wouldn’t be a pretty sight, now would it?”

"Very funny Kankuro," Gaara grumbles as he turns to me. "Sorry about my brother."

"Don't be. I have a brother of my own, and he can get just as annoying as yours," I tell him as I felt my brother’s eyes on me. "Don’t look at me like that Naruto. You know it's true, so don't try to deny it!"

"Time's up everyone!" Yamato exclaims before another word could be said. "Line up in front of the staircase please! The sooner you get yourselves in order, the sooner we can start this challenge!"

Everyone moved before Yamato could even finish his sentence. Some teams instantly - and eagerly - headed for the front of the line, confident enough to take the challenge head on. Others waited until the last stretch of the line began to form before joining, either because they wanted to make a good lasting impression with the judges, or they were just very nervous for their turn in the spotlight. When the line was finally formed, TenTen and Neji ended up toward the front, Hinata and Naruto and Gaara and I were more in the middle, and Kankuro and Temari were close to the end.

"I should've figured that TenTen would drag Neji toward the front . . ." I mumble under my breath as I look to see how far the line stretched. "I'm a little shocked Naruto didn't do the same with Hinata."

"He's probably being considerate of her feelings," comes Gaara’s suggestion as we both sneak a look at the two standing a good five teams behind us. "I bet he did want to be in the front, but he must have figured that wasn't something that Hinata wanted, so staying in the middle served as a decent compromise."

"That does sound plausible, and you sound like you've seen this kind of thing before . . ."

"Not really. I'm just very observant, that's all," he responds as some 90’s techno beat began to pulsate from the room's speakers. "I tend to notice a lot of things, some more than others . . ."

"I see," I say, just as the first pair made their way down the runway. The two of them were obviously not in sync, with the boy walking a good three paces ahead of his partner. "So, notice anything else interesting so far?"

"A few things, here and there," he tells me with the smallest of shrugs, his voice sounding so smooth and clear despite the loud music. "I don’t mean to sound so forward, but I must admit. You are someone that has peaked my interest."

"Oh really?" I ask, hoping that the burn in my cheeks is from the lighting and not from an emerging blush. "And may I ask why? Is there something on my face that I'm not aware about?"

"Something like that," Gaara tells me as the line shuffles forward. "It's just, well, your eyes, well, the rings around them, to be specific. I knew there was something different about them when I first saw you outside the airport. Honestly, I thought you were wearing too much makeup at first, but now, seeing you up close, I now know that I was totally wrong on that assumption. . . You're an insomniac, just like me."

"The only other one in this competition it seems," I sigh. "I haven't seen any others like the two of us, but I have seen a couple of strange characters here and there . . ."

"Like the girl with pink hair?" Gaara asks as he points to said girl just a few pairs ahead of us. "Sakura's her name, right?"

"Yep, and FYI, don't ask about her hair. She's a bit sensitive about it," I warn as we watched Sakura speak with her partner. She didn't look too pleased with him: a bushy-browed guy with a severe bowl cut and dressed head-to-toe in green sportswear. "A few on my floor barely got any sleep last night because Sakura argued with this other girl who said her hair color was fake. They were _this close_ to trading blows!"

"I see . . . Tell me, did this girl happen to be a blonde with hair styled into a really long ponytail?" Gaara suddenly asks as another pair of models strut their stuff on the runway. They narrowly missed bumping into each other a couple of times while they walked.

“Yep; why do you ask?”

"Well, I know exactly who you’re talking about. The girl’s name is Ino, and the only reason I know this is because she was berating me with it while she was on the boys’ floor yesterday."

"Oh, so she was flirting with you?" I ask as I spot Ino and her partner - a feral looking guy with spiky brown hair - stepping onto the runway. She didn’t look like much, but there was an air around her that screamed _‘I’m so gonna win this!’_. "Did you even bother giving her the time of day?"

"Not in the slightest. It took her a good forty-five minutes to realize her flirting wasn't going to work on me," Gaara sighs. "Then she moved onto other prey . . . Those poor souls."

"You sounded a little frustrated when you were describing your "encounter" with Ino just now," I quickly point out as Ino and the feral guy walked the runway. If I had to describe their performance in a simple phrase, I would call it "Beauty and the Beast", emphasis on Beast. The guy wasn't really walking down the runway. He was prowling, like a wild dog trying to intimidate someone on his territory. "I figured you were used to this kind of thing, considering the cult following you have back in your hometown."

"How do you know about that!?" he suddenly asks, shock breaking through his impassive facade as his eyes widened in surprise.

"TenTen told me. Apparently, she has a vast knowledge of things that have gained the media’s attention," I tell him, not ashamed with my assessment. "So, how long have you had insomnia?"

"For as long as I can remember . . . You?"

"Ever since I was a little kid, which sounds a bit unhealthy when you think about it."

"And yet, here you are now, acting perfectly normal," Gaara simply replies as he gestures around us. "Well, as perfectly normal as a modeling competition can get."

"Good point," I say as we continue to inch closer to the front. "So, I think it's pretty obvious that Yamato and Kakashi are looking to see how well we work together on the runway."

"I think you're right. There will be runways out there that have models walk two at a time, sometimes three," the redhead points out as we watch Neji and TenTen take their turn. To be honest, they were working pretty well together, matching each other step-for-step. "I think if we do our strongest walks, stay in sync, and feed off each other's energy, we should be fine."

"I just hope that Yamato notices our energy, at least. I seriously don't want to hear him say we were sleepy on the runway or something like that," I say with a shake of my head. "That so wouldn't make for a good first impression."

"You're not wrong on that one," Gaara says in complete agreement with me. As soon as I turned my head, I couldn't help but note the tiny bit of anxiety that was showing in his jade eyes. "But I still think that we’ll do okay. Well, at least I hope so . . ."

"Yeah . . ." I say as we continue to near the front, my sheepishness trying to take over as I try to give a reassuring smile. "I hope so too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you like!


	6. Walk, Strut, Stride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The semifinal runway round continues.

It didn't take us long to find ourselves at the head of the line.

Gaara and I stood right at the top of the steps as the pair right before us took their turn on the runway. The boy - a pale, thin guy with snow white hair - was walking just fine, his nonchalant gait looking very natural as he prowled the runway. His olive-skinned partner, on the other hand, was facing the double whammy of having trouble keeping up with him and staying upright in her six-inch platform stilettos.

My heart was really going out to the poor girl, especially since I was witnessing this firsthand. She almost fell off the stage twice before she could even reach the end of the platform. The slight jeers that could be heard from the rest of our competition was likely not helping her confidence either.

"Are you ready?" I whisper as the pair started making their way back, butterflies fluttering in my stomach as I tried to keep my nervousness at bay. The white-haired kid was looking quite triumphant as he walked back to our position.

His partner was futilely trying not to cry.

"I’m ready as I'll ever be." Is the reply I hear from Gaara’s lips, but his statement sounded forced, giving me a good hint on how truly calm he was. The attendant that was in charge of signaling when the pairs were supposed to take their turns soon gave us our signal to go, and Gaara and I didn't hesitate to move, ready to face the challenge.

Well, somewhat.

I stand up straight and try my best to walk confidently down the platform, keeping a steady pace as I moved to the rhythm of the music. From the corner of my eye, I see that Gaara's right at my side, matching me step for step as he looked straight ahead.

However, in my honest opinion, I think he could have loosened up just a little. He looks a tiny bit stiff if you asked me.

Kakashi and Yamato were standing a few feet from the end of the runway, their faces absolutely unreadable as Gaara and I struck the required amount of poses. Turning around, Gaara and I both walked back to the starting point, keeping our momentum up the entire way. . .

. . . Well, we kept our momentum up until we finally got off the runway. That's when we both took in a collective sigh of relief before hightailing to a safe distance away from the platform.

I think it was safe to say that the two of us were glad that we got through that challenge relatively unscathed.

"That's probably one of the most nerve-racking things I've ever done in my entire life.”

“Likewise, and I'm the son of a politician!” he agrees as we turned to the runway. “I always hear that walking the runway is one of the best parts about being a model, but I was too worried about how I was moving to truly think about the fun.”

“That’s fair enough. I'm just glad we got that first part out of the way," I say as I let out a breath. "So, what do you think the judges' verdict will be on our performance? You think they liked it?"

"I'm not too sure, but I think I saw one of the corners of Yamato's mouth go up just as I was turning . . . If he was smirking, then maybe it's a good sign for us."

"Well, I hope that’s the case," I say as Neji and TenTen reach us. "Hey guys! How did you like your turn on the runway?"

"I’ll be honest with you. It was both exciting and downright scary at the exact same time," says the bun-headed brunette. "I wanted to enjoy it more, but all I could think about was not falling flat on my face for everyone to see, especially not in front of the judges."

"Yeah, it doesn't help when two of the people tasked with deciding your fate in this competition is standing right at the end of the runway silently scrutinizing your every move," Neji adds as Hinata and Naruto make it to the front of the line.

“You don’t sound too disturbed by this Neji. You actually sound used to it.” Gaara mumbles, catching on to the same thing I noticed as we listened to him speak.

"I come from an old, traditional family where more than half of its members are older than 70. Trust me, I’m used to it,” he concedes as we watched the runway. We weren’t going to argue with him on that one. No one is as judgmental as an old person with plenty of time in the world to gaze and criticize, and now with the admitted fact that Hinata and Neji come from a clan where the majority of their relatives are more than twice their age . . .

. . . Damn, all that criticism they likely had to hear as they grew up. They must have built quite an immunity for it.

Well, I hope they did.

“Hopefully the sight of Yamato and Kakashi scrutinizing so closely won’t affect Hinata too much. She has a habit of buckling under the pressure sometimes . . ."

Welp, so much for that ‘criticism immunity’ I was hoping for.

We watch as my brother and Hinata finally take their turn, and contrary to my earlier beliefs, Naruto manages to not make a complete fool of himself as he strutted. He's actually quite composed, well, except for the part where he has to keep stopping himself from smiling every five seconds. It’s not very noticeable if you’re not looking for it, but once you see it, it’s a pretty obvious thing.

As for Hinata, gone is the slightly timid girl with a slight stutter, and in her place walks a confident model-in-training with her head held high, her steps very solid as she matched my brother step for step.

Sneaking a look Neji’s way, I was not disappointed to see the expression on his face. His face is the epitome of ‘part confused, part impressed’, probably because Hinata was acting way differently from what he probably had predicted. TenTen, the supportive person that she was, watched with a smile on her face, even adding a quick whistle while she was at it.

And as for the rest of our competition, it was quite telling to see that most of their gazes were more on Hinata than on my brother. It was obvious that they were starting to see that the indigo haired Hyuuga would be stiff competition, which is something I don't really blame them for.

"That was, well, quite unexpected. I have never seen her act like this before," Neji mumbles as our respective relatives got off the stage. He then turns to me, his face unsure. "You, did you know something like this was going to happen Izuka?"

"Well, yeah, I kinda did," I say with a bit of a grin. “Hinata and I were in the same pairing during the preliminaries, and she did earn a Fast Track award with me . . . So, yeah, I’ve witnessed this side of Hinata before. I’m a little shocked you’ve never seen this side of your cousin before Neji."

“Honestly, so am I.”

"So, you two walked together already?! Damn, I couldn't imagine what the other models were thinking when they saw you and Hina-chan showing your stuff back then," TenTen says with a cat-like grin. "In my opinion, I think you and Hinata have two of the strongest walks on the girls' side."

"Do you really think so?" I ask as Naruto and Hinata finally join our little clique.

"I usually don't think so. I know so," TenTen says as she turns to my brother. "And Naruto, we all know you were trying so hard not to smile up there just now. You were fixing your face every chance you had!"

Huh, looks like I wasn’t the only one who noticed that quirk of his.

"I couldn't help myself! I'm just naturally a smiler! I'm not much for frowning, scowling, or just looking stoic or indifferent like some people we know.”

"I think we can save the discussion on my brother's inability to keep a straight face for a later date," I say I turn my eyes to the runway, narrowly missing the annoyed look Naruto was sending my way. "Let's watch the rest of our competition first before we start nitpicking each other ok?"

And nitpick we did, sharing our thoughts as the competition pushed forward. So far on runway, it’s a very mixed bag. Most of the other models that we managed to watch had walks that ranged from good to decent.

Only a few of them really stood out to me, and not always for the best of reasons.

There was the redheaded girl with glasses that put so much hip movement in her strut that you’d think she’d throw her hip out with each step she took. There was also a very pale, black haired boy who moved a little too robotically for it to even be considered human, even though he was obviously human, one that was in dire need of sunlight.

Temari and Kankuro proved that they shouldn't be messed with during their turn on the ramp, displaying some pretty impressive runway skills of their own. But there was this one contestant that got my - and everyone else's - attention right from the get-go.

He was the male half of the last pairing in the round. He had pale skin and the darkest eyes I have ever seen. His hair was as black as a raven’s feathers with, but it was styled in such a strange way that it has to be seen to be believed.

As Naruto puts it, it looks like a bird’s ass, probably a duck’s, well, once you actually think about it.

Yes, I have thought about it, and now I can’t get that image out of my head. . . Thank you brother.

But aside from his weird hair styling choices, this guy had a presence on the runway that could be best described as, well, slightly  _intimidating_. He took command of the runway from the very first step, his confidence bordering on cocky as he moved with suave determination.

His partner, a pale girl with violet hair, was more like a background character than an equal partner. She tried to match him as best as she could, but she was left in his proverbial dust, both literally and figuratively. He walked at least a good two paces ahead of her and when he reached the end of the runway, he made sure to lock eyes with every single one of us as he posed.

His eyes lingered on a few of us more than others though, including myself. His partner finally caught up as he was midway through his third pose, but she had to rush through her poses in order to keep pace with him. This just made her look even more awkward, and she was left to follow after him like a sad puppy.

It just wasn’t pretty.

"Who is that guy?" Gaara asks, his eyes slightly narrowed in a way that I thought was pretty cute. "You all saw how he acted on the runway just now, right?"

"He did seem quite full of himself up there, didn't he," Neji mumbles, just as a look of realization appeared on TenTen's face, one that he was quick to notice. "TenTen, why do I have the sudden feeling that you know something about that guy that the rest of us probably don't?"

"Because I do know something about that guy that the rest of you don’t, especially now that I finally got a good look at him. Seriously, I’m honestly upset with myself for forgetting that _hair_!" she tells us as the mystery model steps down from the platform. "That’s Sasuke Uchiha!"

"WHAT?!  _The_  Sasuke Uchiha!?" Temari practically shrieks. "Damn, I didn't recognize him at first! It's been years since we've been in the same room together. . . It must be the hair. It was never like that when I saw him last."

"Wait a sec. You guys know him?" I ask as I turn to the three siblings.

"Not personally," Kankuro says dismissively. "We know Sasuke's family through the political circles. His family even donated to our dad's campaign in the last election year. His older brother Itachi is a pretty nice guy, but he looks way older than he is due to his tear lines. As for Sasuke, he’s very much an  _aloof_  kind of guy with a seriously arrogant side to him that you don’t want to meet. And from what I've seen of him so far, he's not much for being sociable either."

"If Sasuke's family donated to your dad's campaign, then they must be quite loaded." Naruto mumbles as some of the girls started to crowd around the dark-haired man.

"Wealthy? Try old school nobility Naruto," TenTen says with a rueful head shake. "The Uchihas are one of the oldest clans in all of Japan. They trace their roots back for centuries, all the way back to the Heian era last time I checked. They use their money these days to help the country's civil service sector, particularly the police departments."

"So, if you think about it, the Uchihas practically have all of Japan's police force right in their back pocket if needed, right?" I couldn't help but ask as Sasuke doesn't pay any of the girls no mind as he walked across the room. I didn’t want to accuse his family of anything, but when you think about it, it is a plausible idea.

"In a way, yeah. The family really is chummy with the boys in blue and all," Kankuro adds as he brushes a hand through his hair. "Anyway, like I've said before, Sasuke's not really the sociable type, so if you were planning to become friends with him, you may want to reconsider that idea."

"Duly noted," Naruto says, turning his head in time to see that Sasuke was looking at our little group, his dark eyes noticing my brother's stare immediately. The Uchiha simply smirks before turning away, and it only serves to irritate my brother even more. "I'm seriously starting not to like that guy."

"Don't let him get under your skin Naruto," I say as I give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Besides, you have bigger things to worry about than just some rich boy with an awkwardly avian hairstyle."

“Awkwardly avian? Nice wordplay Izuka . . .”

I would have said something in response to Temari’s commentary, but the sound of Yamato calling for everyone’s attention stopped me in my tracks. . . And just as I had come up with a good comeback too.

"I hope you all enjoyed your little spin on the runway. I've got to say this. . . It’s not easy walking down the runway in pairs. Timing and synchronicity is important in this form of runway, and some of you teams really did well in this challenge. Others could have done better, and there were a number of you that could have done so much more. I’m not going to name names, but it really was a mixed showing up there.”

“You all still need work, but then again, that's what we're here for. After all, we're here to help and guide you all in your goal to become successful models," Kakashi states before Yamato could get another word in. "But first, we’re still not done with you today. We have the individual rounds and the photo session to get through."

"The second and third rounds will be happening consecutively. The girls will go first, and the boys will follow right afterward," Yamato, shooting Kakashi a nasty look for cutting him off earlier. "Alright models! LINE UP!"

It was a mad dash to the stairs, with most of the girls jockeying for a good position on line. Temari, TenTen, Hinata, and I eventually ended up in the middle, which was probably for the best. With all the pushing and shoving going on at the ends of the line, neither the front, nor the back, looked tempting to join.

"You would think people would be a little more reluctant to rejoin the line after the first round, but everyone seems excited as ever," Temari observed from the back of our little group. Standing right before her was Hinata, with TenTen following in front of her, and then came me in the lead. "I guess people want to prove that their better than what they showed in the first round."

"That’s the most likely conclusion," TenTen says with a simple shrug. "I just can't wait for our photoshoot! Photoshoots are my biggest strength. Runway, not so much."

"You shouldn't mention your strengths and weaknesses so quickly TenTen," Hinata chastises. "My father has always said that it's better to let others figure out your strengths and weaknesses on their own, rather than advertising it for the whole room to hear. You just make things easier for your rivals."

"That's some reasonable advice. Unexpected advice, but reasonable," It honestly sounded like advice you hear in preparation for a fight, but this competition could be considered a form of fashion-centric combat, so . . .  "Your father sounds like a wise man Hinata."

"He is, but if you ever get a chance to meet him, don't say that to his face . . . My father tends to get, well,  _snooty_  when someone states the obvious to him."

"Hm, sounds like someone else I know," Temari mumbles as we watch her eyes move toward her brothers, who were standing way back at the very end of the boys’ line with Neji and Naruto. "But he's not really snooty per se. He’s just a bit stuck up at times. It’s worse when he doesn’t even realize it."

"I heard that Temari!" came Gaara's reply. I had no clue which of her brothers she was talking about, but the redhead’s sudden reply put that question to bed.

Also, Gaara has some freakishly good hearing if he was able to hear his sister from that far away, and with all the other noise happening around us.

"See! Can you hear it? He even sounds like a stuck up right now!" says Temari as she points the redhead’s way. "Don’t lie to yourself Gaara! You act stuck up sometimes, but don’t worry, I still love ya!"

“Well, at least we know that the sibling dynamic between you two is ok," I mumble as I turn to face the front. “Here’ to hoping that comment doesn’t bite you in the ass in the future.”

As a fellow sister, I can honestly tell you that comments like Temari’s own can come back to haunt you, especially when you least expect it.

Brothers have a way of getting their revenge, even when you don’t want them to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Leave a comment if you like!


	7. Snack Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group shares some personal details over snacks.

"Well, this has been a very fun day . . . Who am I kidding?! I’m beat!" Temari's sarcasm moved to grumbling as we stepped into our suite after a good hard day's work. "Like seriously?! I don’t know which was more tiring, the multiple rounds of runway or the photoshoot session with Kakashi afterward. . . So many fashion photographers, so little time."

"And we were only allowed five close up shots and five full body frames to work with, so there wasn’t much room for error either," TenTen adds as she kicks off her heels, narrowly missing a vase with one of them. "At least we didn't have to wait too long to take our turns though.”

“Anyone worried about their photos?”

“I don’t know about you Temari, but I just hope I didn't look like I was thinking too much in my shots. Overthinking things has always been a big no-no in this competition, for obvious reasons of course."

"It's like you read my mind TenTen," I say as I close the door. "There's a big difference between posing while feeling and posing while thinking, and unfortunately, I think I may have leaned more to the thinking side during my turn."

"It's pretty simple if you ask me," Hinata chimes in as she sits on the couch. "With posing while feeling, you just have to really focus on the emotion or idea you are trying to convey in the shoot. You really have to _get into the moment_ , but if you consciously keep thinking about how you should move your body and how your face should look, you just become way too focused on the image rather than the idea. You get what I mean?"

"I think so, and damn Hinata. You make it sound so easy, and you made it look easy too," Temari says, a little obvious with the jealousy in her tone. "I witnessed your session girl, and you were taking all of us to school. Sure, you seemed to have lost it for a couple of shots, but still, you made it seem so natural, so effortless. . . You have any other tips that could help the rest of us out?"

"Um, I'm flattered you are even asking me such a question, but I honestly can’t say I'm a natural though. It was only ten frames, so if my frames end up being good after all, I'm chalking it up to beginner's luck." Hinata defensively says, raising her hands up like she meant no harm.

"You are so damn humble that it’s almost sickening Hinata, and who could that possibly be!?" mumbles TenTen as we all hear the sound of someone knocking at our door. Then she visibly paled. "You think that’s one of the assistants coming to deliver the news!?"

"There’s no way they could have made cuts that quick!” Temari grumbles in what I guess was her way of being reassuring, though it was sort of coarse in the delivery.

“I agree. Remember, there is a hundred of us in this competition, and there is a lot of stuff the judges have to go through before they can render a proper decision," I say as I walk back over to the door. "You know what I’m hoping for? Complimentary room service!"

"Massages! Please let it be massages!" TenTen exclaims, the others immediately shaking their heads in agreement.

“Ok, that works too!” I concede as I open the door open. It wasn’t room service or a masseuse, but it was the boys, and they were carrying snacks and drinks. "Hey guys! What’s going on here?"

"Well, you guys were a little too quick to come back up here once the photoshoot was over. If you had stayed a little longer, you would have learned that the hotel was offering us a huge table spread of snacks as a complimentary treat," Kankuro gladly explains as he and Naruto showed off the stuff they managed to gather. "So, we thought we’d be nice and bring up a few goodies. Anyone up for a little snack party?"

"Don't worry, according to the hotel worker that was overseeing the table, none of the snacks are fattening. It’s mostly low fat, low calorie stuff. The kind that actually has some taste to it," Gaara adds as he held up the packs of soda cans he held. "So, can we come in? My fingers are getting tired."

"Let them in Izuka!" Temari commands. "It'll be nice to let loose for a little bit. Plus, who in their right mind would say no to free food!?”

"Well, when you put it that way . . . Come in guys!"

I move to the side, letting the boys walk in one by one before closing the door behind us. All the food was deposited onto the coffee table, covering a good swath of the table's surface. TenTen didn't bother waiting any longer, quickly going for the bag of mini pretzels in the center of the pile.

Unfortunately for her, Temari grabbed the bag before she could get a hand on it.

"Are you planning to share those pretzels?" TenTen asks with a tense look on her face, obviously not liking the fact that she got beat out by the blonde. "It would be kind of you if you did. You are holding the only bag of mini pretzels after all."

"Of course, I’m going to share. I just wanted first choice, that's all," Temari quickly bites back with a sickeningly sweet smile, which ended up inciting a small growl from the brunette in return. "Is letting me have first choice that problematic for you?"

"It is if you're going to hog all the unbroken pieces for yourself." TenTen claps back as she grabs the bag, inciting an impromptu game of tug-of-war between the two.

"I never realized that TenTen and Temari liked pretzels so much . . . You guys should have brought more with you," I mumble as the rest of us stood off to the side, witnessing the tugging match unfold. "If they keep this up, the bag is going to rip for sure."

"So much for the snack party having a fun beginning . . ." my brother further adds as he scratched the back of his neck. "So, any suggestions on how to stop them?"

"I think I may have one," says Neji, turning to Hinata. "Cousin, care to assist me on this one?"

"Oh, sure. If you say so.”

We watch Neji as he whispers something low in her ear before moving to stand behind TenTen. Once Hinata was standing behind Temari, the two Hyuugas reached out and pinched the dueling girls in the area where their necks met their right clavicles.

The result was quite fascinating to see, as Temari and TenTen ended up visibly relaxing immediately. In ten seconds, they went from glaring at each other to wearing expressions so serene, you’d think we were watching a spa commercial unfold right before our very eyes.

Oh, and the pretzels were saved, but they still ended up falling to the floor, narrowly missing the table. ". . . There, that should do it. They won’t be arguing for a while now, so the party should be relatively peaceful from this point forward.”

"Damn Neji! What the hell did you two just do to them?" Kankuro ends up asking for the rest of us as the Hyuugas eased the two onto the couch. "And can you teach me that move?! I could win a lot more arguments against my siblings with that!”

“Really?!” Came Gaara’s immediate reply, shaking his head in disbelief. “You lose one too many arguments against me and sis, so this is your plan B? Learn how to _pinch_ us into submission?”

“YES!” Kankuro exclaims, having no shame in his intentions. “So, can you teach me?”

“It’s probably not a good idea,” Hinata advises, shaking her head. “What we did is part of a very complex, and _precise_ practice. One touch can mean the difference between full body relaxation and an induced medical emergency.”

“Well that sounds dangerous,” Naruto mumbles, instantly nervous of the implications. “Wait a minute . . . How did you learn to do this anyway?”

"Well, there are some advantages to being a part of a _body-focused_ family, so to speak . . . Medicine is practically in our blood. Doctors, surgeons, acupuncturists, you name it. If you can name a profession that requires a knowledge of the human body, we guarantee you that someone in our family has done it for a living," says Neji as he eased TenTen's head onto the sofa cushions. "What we did just now was a little something that one of our acupuncturist cousins taught us when we were younger."

"So, your cousin taught you guys how to apply pressure to a pressure point that eventually calms people down?" Gaara bluntly asks as he turns to his serene looking sister.

"Basically . . ." Hinata admits as she picks up a bag of chips. "But that's not the only pressure point we know about. The human body has many points that can be used to cause pain, pleasure, and sometimes, even sleep. It all depends on what kind of point you're targeting."

“I would like to know about these sleep-inducing pressure points please.”

“That would be a useful trick to know.” I say in agreement, only because I was the only other person in the room that could relate to his predicament.

"Hey! I asked first! Get in line!” Kankuro argues, rubbing both of us the wrong way immediately.

“Yeah, I think it’s best we don’t teach you anything right now,” Neji concedes, dashing our collective hopes immediately. “Wouldn’t want you guys misusing our teachings under our watch after all.”

It wasn’t hard to see that the dig was meant for the middle Sabakuno.

"Anyway, speaking of your family, have your parents, or anyone in your clan for that matter, been encouraging, or _pressuring,_ you guys to, uh, join the family business?” I couldn’t help but ask, curious to know the answer. “I'm sure when you told your family that you were going to try out for this competition, not all of them were _totally_ enthusiastic over it, right?"

"Yeah, not everyone in the family were totally happy about us modelling, but they warmed up to it, well, in time," Neji concedes as he picks up the discarded pretzels. "As for them encouraging us to join the medical field, well, some of our elders have said that medicine is always a good back up if modeling doesn't work out."

"And what about you three?" TenTen asks, having regained some semblance of her wits as she turned to the three siblings with a smirk on her face. "Your father is the mayor of one of Japan's biggest cities. I bet he had some reservations when he learned that you guys were joining this thing."

"Oh, he did alright!" Kankuro agrees, chuckles escaping past his lips as he took a seat on the floor. "Our dad is a rising force in the political world, and if you give a crap about politics, you know that the cleaner your background, the better your future will be, and our old man really takes that to heart.”

“. . . And what does his three kids do in response to that? Go off to join the country's biggest modelling competition, that's what!” Temari exclaims, not the least bit repentant. “He honestly thought we were joking when we first brought the idea up to him. I think he's still unsure about it to this day."

"Is he worried that whatever you guys do here may reflect negatively on him?" I ask, a tense look suddenly appearing on Gaara's face. “Gaara, you ok?”

“I’m fine. I just thought of something real quick,” he mumbles, shaking it off. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

"He’s probably thinking of all the things he did that probably reflected bad on good old dad,” Kankuro adds, earning a sharp glare from the redhead. “WHAT!? It was all rambunctious, little kids stuff, and we were practically partners in crime for some of that shit. . . We both know that you were far from being an innocent kid growing up. Mayhem was practically in your blood during those times. Good times . . .”

“Ok, I so need photo evidence of this,” I say, shaking my head. “Since, again, we’ve only known you for a couple of days now, I’m willing to give Gaara the benefit of the doubt here. If I don’t see photos or video, I’m not believing it.”

“But what Kankuro is saying is right! Gaara, you were such a troublemaker when we were kids. . . Damn, If only we were allowed on the internet while in this competition, I could show you plenty of evidence stored up in our family’s Cloud,” Temari says, a smug grin stretching across her face as she enjoyed the shook look that was showing on Gaara’s face. “. . . You forgot about the family Cloud again, didn’t you little brother?”

“Yeah, I forgot . . .” he grumbles, shaking his head as he slammed a palm into his forehead. “. . . Damn that fucking Cloud.”

“Anyway, back to the main discussion at hand,” Temari continues, ready to leave the redhead to his misery. “Politics isn't just about the issues plaguing the community and creating new laws. It hasn’t been for a _long_ time now . . . When you're a politician, your image is _everything_! Maintaining a squeaky-clean image is crucial because the press is basically on your ass at all times, ready to write something bad about you if you give them even a hint of weakness.”

“Isn’t that the m.o of the media in general?” Neji asks, completely unfazed.

“Not all the media is like that. The more well-respected publications will always try to remain impartial, save for their opinion sections of course. Some media outlets tend to lean toward one certain direction, and thus report with a bias, so how they report on a subject all depends on the subject’s affiliations,” Temari further explains.

“But you know those trashy gossip magazines and papers you can always find by the cashier in the supermarket? They live for telling tall tales. They have no qualms when it comes to their reporting, especially if the news is so big that _everyone’s_ covering it,” Kankuro adds. “Simply put, controversy to the press is like the scent of blood to a shark. It lures them in an instant, and once they have a general idea of what’s going on, it’s off to the computers and the printing press to try to get the story out first."

“Ah, you gotta love the media,” Naruto sarcastically grumbles, shaking his head. “So, any bad run-ins with the media you’d like to tell us about?”

"Hm, not really. Unless there’s an active campaign or election going on, a politician's family doesn't garner 24/7 media coverage like most famous celebrity families do. Something pretty major would have to happen for that kind of coverage to happen," Kankuro further adds as he digs into a pack of powdered donuts. "We've had a couple of close calls over the years, but nothing really big has happened that would have landed us the front page headline. . . Gaara here has a bit more experience in the news compared to me and Temari, so if you really want to know what that’s like, you should ask him."

"Please don’t! I only got mentioned in the media because of all the stupid stuff I did when I was younger, nothing more, nothing less," Gaara quickly says, as if he wanted the attention diverted away from him as soon as possible.

Considering the stuff his siblings said about him on his behalf just now, I could not blame him for his lack of response.

"Hmm, such interesting stories. . . My mom ended up reacting the exact opposite way of how your folks did," TenTen reluctantly admits as she grabbed the bag of pretzels out from Neji's hand, opening it up with a quick tug. "She was all for it when I told her I was joining this competition!"

"Why? She figured this would be the quickest way for you to get out of the house?" Temari snidely asks as she quickly snatched a few pretzels before TenTen could move the bag away.

"Not in the slightest Temari!” TenTen bites back with a grin. “My mother has always been my biggest supporter. She’s a big fan of fashion and modelling, so when I told her I was doing this, she was jumping up and down and all that good stuff! I think she was more excited about this than I was, and damn it, I should have caught her reaction on film! You guys would have loved seeing it . . . Anyway, Izuka, Naruto, you're next."

"Wait a sec! We’re next? For what!?" I ask as my brother and I look on with matching blank expressions on our faces, a sudden feeling of dread was starting to nag at me from somewhere in the back of my mind.

It was my _‘You’re not going to like this too much’_ feeling, and I was dreading it more and more by the second.

"Don't get all blank-faced on us guys! You know exactly what I am talking about," TenTen argues as everyone started turning their gazes our way. "C'mon, spill it. How did your parents react when you guys told them that you were doing modelling? Please, tell us. We promise we won’t laugh if the story is funny."

"Uh, honestly, that’s not an easy thing to answer," Naruto answers for the both of us as a somber look appears in his eyes. "You see, our parents tend to be a sensitive subject for us. We don’t talk about them much . . ."

"Oh shit . . . Did you get into a fight with them before coming here?" Temari is quick to ask, looking apologetic. "Your parents don't approve of this career choice. Is that it, because trust me, you wouldn’t be the first ones to have parents that don’t like your life choices."

"It's not really that Temari . . . There was no fight with our parents,” I say as I fight back the lump that was beginning to form in my throat. "Actually, we've barely lived with our parents in the first place."

"What do you mean by that?" Hinata innocently asks, her shyness more apparent as I took a walk over to the far side of the room.

"My sister means exactly what she just said Hinata-chan," Naruto answers, shrugging his shoulders. A small smile was on his face, but it was nowhere near the usual smiles that I'm so used to seeing from him. "To tell you the truth, we _barely know_ our real parents because, well, uh . . . How do I say this? Um sis? Can you help me out here with this?"

“Wait! Let me guess this one,” Kankuro practically exclaims, butting into the conversation once again. “So, you barely know and barely lived with your parents . . . They put you up for adoption didn’t they!?”

“That does sound plausible . . .” TenTen murmurs, her hopeful face faltering once she saw my expression. “Oh, it’s not adoption. it’s something much darker than that . . .”

“Yeah, definitely darker than adoption . . .” I mumbled as I spot a certain redhead edging closer to me from the corner of my eye. “. . . Care to wager a guess Gaara?”

"After all that I’ve heard so far, there’s only one guess I could make at this point," he admits as he comes to a stop a couple of feet from me. "They're, they're deceased, aren't they?"

"Yeah . . . they are," I say as I tuck a few strands of my hair back behind my ear, my admission stunning the rest of the room into silence. "They passed away when Naruto and I were really young, like _really_ young."

"How young are we talking here? Two, three years?" Kankuro asks, right before Temari elbows him in the gut. "OW! Oh, and sorry! My tone sounded rude didn’t it?"

"It's alright," I say, accepting it with stilted grace. "You're not the first to ask, and you likely won’t be the last either. . . Our parents died when we were barely weeks old.”

“That young!?” Hinata asks, somehow paling even further despite her already pale complexion.

“Yeah, that young,” I admit. “They left us in the care of a family friend so that they could run a few errands, and they never returned."

"The family friend that took care of us that day ended up becoming our legal guardian. He looked after us until we were legal ourselves." Naruto further adds as he throws me a bag of chips. He ended up throwing the bag closer to Gaara than to me, which left my fellow insomniac to catch it instead.

"Did you ever find out what happened to your parents?" Gaara asks as he handed the bag over to me. I knew from the look on his face that he was unsure about asking the question - probably out of concern for how either Naruto or I would react - but I wasn’t really fazed by it, offering a small smile to show that I wasn’t bothered by it as much as I thought I would have.

"When we were old enough to understand things better, our guardian, Iruka, sat us down and told us that our parents died in a car accident on their way to the store. . . Our dad died instantly, but our mom managed to hold on during the entire ambulance ride," I say as I rip the bag open and start digging in. “. . . She passed away hours later."

"Oh . . . I-I don't know what to say," says Temari, her face somber. "I'm so sorry if our line of conversation was uncomfortable for you guys, you know, talking about parents and all . . ."

"Oh, that's okay. Besides, you didn’t know . . . We try not to let it bother us. We did have a decent childhood, and Iruka has been a very good father figure to us," says Naruto, his usual grin now back in place. "Although, I must admit. There were a few bumps in the road we had to overcome as we got older."

"Like your refusal to eat anything that was classified as a vegetable until you were eleven?" I ask, grinning at the look my brother was giving me. It was a harmless question, but Naruto looked like I offended our entire lineage. "What? Don't look at me like that! Every time Iruka would serve up vegetables during dinner, you ended up throwing them away or outright refusing to eat them! All you wanted to eat was ramen when we were kids!"

"And that's a bad thing!?" Naruto asks, as if eating ramen was the most innocent thing in the world.

To him, it probably was.

"It's not healthy eating one food every day for weeks and months on end Big Bro!" I remind him, playfully throwing one of my chips at his forehead. "One of these days, you're going to get sick off that stuff!"

"Too late sis. I already did get sick off ramen, but it was only once," he claps back with a cheeky grin. "And yes, it was well worth it!"

"When it comes to feasting on your favorite food, it’s always worth it," Kankuro chimes in, firmly finding himself in my brother’s corner. "For me, it’s all about the hamburger steak! One time, I absolutely gorged myself on the stuff during an eating competition I entered on a whim . . .”

“Wait a damn minute!” Neji mumbled, looking annoyed. “You entered a competition - one that people are known to _train_ for - on a freaking _whim_? You just wanted to get a free meal, didn’t you?”

“YEP!” says the brunet, showing no shame. “I ended up throwing up chunks afterward, but I don’t have any regrets."

"Yeah, his quick trip on the professional eating circuit was one of the things that made Kankuro newsworthy a couple of years ago, for all the _wrong_ reasons. You ended up barfing right on our dad's shoes, right in front of the media pit!" says Temari as Gaara started chuckling. ". . . And they were his favorite pair of loafers too."

"I got him a new pair, eventually . . . Anyway, I'm in the mood to hear something funny. Anyone got a good story or joke to share with the rest of us? I’ll take anything at this point."

_Knock-knock-knock_

"Hold up one second Kankuro. Someone’s at the door," Neji announces as his head swivels to the door. He moves to open it, and when he returns, a Tsunade Mail is coming along for the ride. "I wonder what this will say. . ."

"Considering the circumstances, it’s not hard to imagine what’s possibly written inside," TenTen mumbles. "But just for kicks, why don't you open that pretty little envelope up and read what's inside to the rest of us hm?"

"Hm, might as well . . ." says the Hyuga as he rips open the mail and takes out the purple paper.

_"Hello models!_

_You all just got your first taste of the model life,_

_Tomorrow, some of you will have to say goodbye to it._

_Meet Kakashi and Yamato in the main conference room at 10 AM sharp._

_There you will see who will move on . . ._

_. . . And who will go home._

_Sweet dreams!_

_Love, Tsunade_

"Although I knew this was coming, it's still not a great thing to hear." Gaara murmurs, his deep voice breaking through the sudden silence.

"Well, all we can hope for is that none of us are among that first group going home tomorrow . . . It’s not a fun thing to go through, but this is what we decided to go up against when we first signed up for this. " Naruto reminds us, becoming an improbable fountain of wisdom in a suddenly dour moment. "Now, let’s eat. These snacks aren't going to eat themselves."

I think that fountain of wisdom just dried up for the moment.

"Does he always think with his stomach more than his brain?"

I did not expect Gaara to ask that question by whispering in my ear. The feeling of his breath on my neck instantly sent goosebumps up my skin, and if it weren’t for the people here with us, I probably would have jumped out of my shoes.

"At times . . . Does your brother do the same thing?" I manage to ask, trying to keep my tone leveled as I turned to face him, just as our brothers started arguing over the popcorn.

"You have no idea. . ." Gaara says as I offer him some chips, which he eagerly took. "So, are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Is anyone ready?” I ask in return. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for eliminations, but I will say this. Expect a lot of happiness, disappointment, and overall, a whole lot of pandemonium that will ensu-"

"Hey Gaara, stop flirting with Izuka or else you'll miss out on the snacks!"

"I'm not flirting with Izuka Kankuro. I'm just talking to her!" Gaara quickly exclaims as he sends a sharp look his brother's way, a blush quickly appearing on his face. ". . . Once again, I'm sorry for my brother."

"Don't sweat it . . ." I say with a shake of my head. "Besides, that's what brothers are for right?"

"Correct Izuka. Older brothers are here for their younger siblings, no matter how embarrassing they can get. That’s just the natural order of things," Kankuro says with a grin as we rejoin the group around the table. "And speaking of embarrassing moments, have I ever told you that whenever Gaara actually sleeps, he does it with his favorite teddy bear? He's had it ever since he was a toddler."

"Damn you Kankuro. Damn you!" Gaara grumbles as his face goes from a blush to beet red. Some laughed, but the rest of us reacted with more subdued, and bemused, expressions. "Must you be so annoying right now?"

"Hey! Don't let your brother get under your skin Gaara," I advise as I pat his shoulder. "And to be honest, I don’t think there's anything wrong with a grown man sleeping with the stuffed animal he's had since he was little. I actually think it's pretty cute."

"Uh . . ." Gaara stutters out as his face somehow goes an even deeper shade of red, almost matching his hair. He quickly gets up, asks where the bathroom is, and quickly leaves to compose himself, grumbling something about annoying siblings along the way. . .

. . . Hmm, he’s such a tough looking guy, but he does seem to be a bit sensitive on the inside.

There’s definitely more to him than meets the eye, and well, I can’t wait to see more of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Leave a comment if you like.


	8. Cutting Down the Competition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first eliminations of the semifinal round commences!

You know what the bad thing is about yesterday ending?

Today beginning.

Usually, I’d be happy to say that I survived to witness another sunrise on this good green Earth, but I couldn’t celebrate today, not when I’m so nervous about what’s supposed to happen in a few minutes’ time.

It’s Elimination Day, the first of many I hope to witness, well, if I manage to stay long in this competition. The upcoming cuts have been hanging over our heads ever since we got the Tsunade Mail yesterday, and while we tried to keep our spirits up, it was mostly a halfhearted effort.

"Um, did anyone else wake up with a serious case of elimination anxiety this morning?" TenTen asks as we wait for the elevator, breaking through the tense silence that we’ve been drowning in since Hinata suggested that group yoga session earlier in the morning.

Yeah, leave it to the sound of silence to indicate when a person was obviously tense about an important life-altering decision happening in their upcoming future.

"Not only did I wake up feeling anxious, but it's cousins Dread and Stressful decided to pay me a visit as well. They’re currently having a party with the butterflies in my stomach right as we speak," Temari mumbles, vainly trying to be funny as she picked off a piece of lint from her gray halter top. "I just want them to put me out of my misery and tell me my fate already. . . Damn, the wait is killing me!"

"I’m sure you’re not the only one Temari," I say as the elevator doors finally slid open. "Sheesh, you probably won’t find a single person in this competition that’s not nervous about the upcoming cuts. . . If there is someone like that, then I want to know what that person is smoking so I could get some for myself."

"If I was a bit braver, I would join you Izuka," Hinata admits, her words a bit surprising as we stepped into the compartment. "What?! It’s not fun knowing that your model dream could be cut short in a matter of minutes! It’s quite terrifying if you ask me.””

"Eh, I try to not think about what's coming next, but I can't help myself . . . I end up worrying even more," TenTen concedes as she jabs the button for the second floor, where the conference room was supposed to be. "I hate to ask the question, but I’m gonna ask it anyway . . . How many people do you think are getting cut today?”

"Um, first things first, that question didn’t have to be asked at all, so there’s that, but to answer your question, I honestly don't know," I say as we start going downward. "The number tends to vary from year to year. The highest it has ever been was that one season where they cut a third of the competition."

"I remember that season!" TenTen exclaims, pointing my way. "Everyone was so shocked once they heard the results! There were so many tears, and not enough Kleenex!"

"Hopefully the producers stocked the conference room with enough Kleenex so that the same thing doesn't happen again . . . A whole bunch of people are going to need them by the end of the day," I mumble, just as we come to a stop. “Well, showtime girls!”

After the doors slid open, we shuffled out and walked toward the conference room, back in our little quiet bubble. Everyone that arrived before us were waiting along the walls that led up to the sealed doors, either so chatty that they just couldn’t hold their nerves in, or so silent that you could see them internalize them just by looking into their eyes.

"Huh, this kinda reminds me of those long lines you always see leading into the neighborhood movie theater whenever a big blockbuster was premiering . . . The experience is fun, don’t get me wrong, but man is it a struggle when it’s the middle of winter!"

“Um, TenTen? How is waiting on a long line a fun experience?” I couldn’t help but ask. “Better question: How is waiting on a long line when it’s WINTER a fun experience?!”

“It’s all about the camaraderie Izuka,” she says, her grin practically cheeky. “You know, like-minded individuals coming together to see a film that they’ve been waiting for months to come out, ready to see it before any of their other friends could . . .”

“Because you want to brag that you saw said film before any of your friends did?”

“Well, that, and to avoid spoilers Hinata,” TenTen finishes as we join the line. “. . . Spoilers are never fun.”

"Oh yeah, I can see the parallels . . . It really is just like waiting for a movie premiere, except there's no popcorn, candy, or drinks waiting for us inside." Temari adds as she leans against the wall, not sounding malicious as she looked up at the clock that was hanging on the opposing wall. "It's 9:52. Only eight minutes remain until we learn our fate, and where the hell are the boys!?"

"Hm, either they’re still in their room, or they're making their way down," Hinata easily replies as we hear the familiar elevator  _ding_. Most of the models were already out of the lift by the time we turned our heads; Naruto and Gaara walking right at the front of the pack. "Here come two of them right now."

"Yeah, but where are the others? Since they all share the same room, I figured they would all be coming down together," Temari grumbles as our respective brothers finally reach us. "Hey, how come Neji and Kankuro didn't come down with ya?"

"Apparently, Kankuro lost his lucky puppet, so Neji decided to stay back and help him look for it."

"Go back for a second Naruto. Kankuro carries around a _lucky puppet_?" I ask, not really believing in what I was hearing.

"Yeah, you heard him right Izuka,” Gaara admits, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “He got it from our father as a gift for his tenth birthday, and he’s been carrying it around with him at all times since. . . It's not like one of those normal sized puppets you see at puppet shows. It's more like a palm sized trinket if you ask me."

"I would appreciate it if you didn’t call my lucky puppet a _palm sized trinket_ , little brother," calls said middle sibling as he and Neji finally arrive. "With the luck it has brought me over the years, it deserves the respect it has earned!"

"Why should I refrain from saying something that's absolutely true though? Your lucky puppet actually fits into your palm!" Gaara argues back as he raised an eyebrow . . .

. . . Which immediately gets my attention since I now realized that _he doesn’t have any eyebrows_.

They were nowhere to be found on his face, which makes me ask the question.

Was he simply born without them, or did he choose to shave them off?

Don’t get me wrong, he’s freaking handsome even without his eyebrows, and it’s actually quite hard to imagine him with them right now, but still . . .

. . . How did I not notice this before?

"Okay, you got me there." Kankuro concedes as he reaches into his back pocket, taking it back out a second later to reveal the little luck giver. "I'm just glad I finally found it, well, thanks to Neji's help."

"No problem, although, I have to admit. It was a little hard finding the thing thanks to its misleading name," says the Hyuga, crossing his arms over his chest. "He told me that he named it Crow, so I immediately assumed that the puppet was modeled after an actual crow."

"But that little thing looks nothing like a crow!" Naruto exclaims, pointing at the puppet. "What kind of crow has three eyes, four arms, and no wings?"

"Did I forget to mention that Kankuro has a very bad tendency of giving objects horrible names?" Temari snidely asks, earning a sharp glare from her brother. He likely would have said something, but the conference room doors started opening up before he had the chance to open his mouth. "You can say what you want to say later Kankuro. We got much more pressing matters to get to first!"

"Gather around everyone!" Yamato exclaims, making his presence known as he and Kakashi emerged from the room. The doors close as soon as they’re past the threshold, giving none of us the chance to see what was going on inside as we moved to form a half circle around the two gentlemen.

"You all have been put through your paces these past few days, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.” Kakashi starts off, bringing the mood down right off the bat.

"One hundred of you managed to make it to the semifinals. One hundred, out of thousands and thousands of applicants that tried out this year," Yamato adds, his face turning somber. "But after today’s elimination, only **50** of you will remain in the running. . . Half of you will be going home!"

" _Fifty_?" Hinata whispers as the group buzzes with shock and worry. ". . . Please tell me I didn't hear him right; that my mind is playing tricks on me!"

"I wish I could say that, but you heard him right Hinata," Naruto answers her with a slightly glum look on his face. "We all heard him . . . Seriously? _Fifty_? That's pretty much unheard of!”

"You got that right my whiskered friend,” TenTen grumbles. "Thanks to my knowledge on all things 'You Wanna be on Top?', I can confirm that this is the biggest elimination this competition has ever seen. Unfortunately for us, we get to be a part of it!"

"Why our year though?" Kankuro whines as he raked his free hand through his hair. "Couldn't they have waited till next year?"

"I guess not . . ." I mumble as the crowd begins to quiet down. “We don’t get everything we want in this world after all.”

"Alright, alright! I think we gave you all enough time to talk amongst yourselves. . . It's time to get back to the task at hand everyone!" Yamato reminds us, not bothering to hide his bemused expression.

"Behind these doors is a room filled with 100 posters, one for each of you. They are simply enlarged versions of the Polaroids that you all took during the preliminary rounds." Kakashi explains as he jutted his thumb at the sealed doors behind him.

"If you find the phrase 'You're in!' printed on the back of your respective poster, then congratulations, you have made it through to the next round," Yamato adds. "However, if the back of your poster is blank - absolutely blank, no words, just plain white all around – then I'm sorry, your journey ends here, and you will have to go back to your respective suites, pack your bags, and go home."

"So, are you all ready to find out your results?!" Kakashi exclaims as the doors slowly opened up. It didn't take us long to answer him with one resounding 'YES!'. "Alright then, IN YOU GO!"

The crowd moved before he even got his last word out. We ended up bum rushing through the open doorway, passing the two - now frantic looking - men, both too slow to get out of our collective way. I couldn’t even get a good look of the room before things broke down into a downright frenzy, with everyone moving back and forth and left to right to find their respective photos in the crowd. The sounds of tearful cries and shouts of joy blindsided me from all sides, and I still haven’t found my photo yet.

"SIS, OVER HERE!"

Somehow, Naruto’s voice manages to be loud and clear among the cacophony that is the noise going around in this room. Turning my head to find where his voice came from, I spot my brother standing next to my poster. He was already holding his, and judging from the big, megawatt-sized grin he had on his face, I think it’s safe to say that he was continuing on.

" _I guess they put them in ABC order by last time. That would explain why ours are close to the end of the line."_  I inwardly mused as I jogged over to him. "So, judging from the smile on your face, it's safe to say that you’re moving on, right?"

"Hell, yes I am!" he exclaims, happiness flowing off him in waves as he hugged me with his free arm.

I couldn't help but smile at his antics. Naruto's joy was just that contagious. "Now hurry up and look at your poster! I want to know if you made it through or not!"

"I will, once you finally let go of me!" I say with a chuckle. Now realizing that he was still hugging me, Naruto quickly lets me go, shooting me a quick apologetic glance before shifting to one of anticipation.

I couldn't blame him for it. Naruto tended to get excited for the both of us at times, even when the situation didn't call for it.

"Here goes nothing," I say as I pick up the object that determined my fate. For some reason – it could have been out of nervousness, outright fear, or disappointment – I close my eyes before turning my poster around. Slowly opening one eye at a time, I looked down to see black lettering.

That alone sealed the deal for me. "Yes, I made it! I’m still in this thing!"

"It's two for two for the Uzumaki twins after all!" Naruto says, wrapping his free arm around my shoulders. It wasn’t hard to disagree with his assessment, especially since it was rare for siblings to make it far in the competition together. "C'mon! Let’s go see what the others got!"

"Hopefully their results are just as good as ours," I mumble as he starts dragging me further into the room. "It'll would be a bit depressing if any of them got sent home.”

"You said it sis . . . I know people are going to be eliminated left and right as this thing goes on, but it's still going to be hard to see the people you start to get close to leave week by week.”

"Aw, it's so nice to know that you feel that way guys! I’m touched!"

We both turn to our immediate right to see Kankuro standing a couple of feet away with a grin on his face and his poster in his hand, with Gaara and Temari standing a couple feet behind him.

"It's really good to know that you guys care so much. It hits me right here; right in the heart, right in the _feels_ ," the brunette further adds as he clutches at his chest.

"Oh, shut it!” Naruto exclaims as he jabs his finger at him. “Now it just sounds like you’re mocking us.”

"Sorry, but I'm being honest here. Your words really were quite touching," he says, just as Temari slapped him on the back of his head. ". . . That was so not needed sis."

"You brought this on yourself. Don't deny it!" She says with a smirk before turning to us. "Are you guys still in thing?"

"Yep!" I say as we hold up our posters. "What about you guys?"

"We’re all still in," Gaara calmly confirms as they show us the evidence. "We all live to fight another day, I guess."

"HEY! Don't forget us!" TenTen exclaims, weaving her way through the crowd with Neji and Hinata in tow. "We’re still in this thing too you know!"

"Well that’s good to hear!" I say as I start looking around the room.

Emotions were really running high throughout the room. There was obvious joy, excitement, and relief on the faces of those that were still in, with some visibly crying as they digested their good news. On the other hand, there was, of course, disappointment, anger, sadness, and even some acceptance on the faces of those that didn't make the cut.

It was truly half and half, and though I felt really bad for those that were in the half that was going home - like how could I not? Their dream has been momentarily halted by the sting of elimination after all - it was relieving to know that me, my brother, and all of our friends were in the half that is still in the running.

"Hm, hopefully this experience won't be too demoralizing to those that have to go home." I hear Hinata mumble.

“If they’re smart, they’ll use this as a learning experience and grow from it,” Gaara added, his face stoic, his tone, not so much. “If they work hard enough, they could audition again next year and try for a better result.”

“Way to look at the bright side of things little brother!” Kankuro kindly says, patting his brother on the back. “He may look emo, but Gaara here can be full of surprises!”

“Can you not!?” Gaara immediately countered, shooting him a sharp look . . . Probably for the ‘emo’ line.

“Never, little brother,” Kankuro countered in return. “. . . _NEVER_!”

"CAN EVERYONE GATHER UNDER THE CHANDELIER PLEASE!?"

“Looks like you’re gonna have to hold that thought Gaara,” I say, stopping the redhead in his tracks. Gaara looked like he wanted to tell off his brother - and he most likely would have if it wasn’t for my interruption - but a quick glance at the growing crowd under said chandelier stopped him from going any further.

He had to settle with giving Kankuro a dirty look that screamed ‘ _This isn’t over!_ ’. Kankuro, for his part, looked like he was up for the challenge.

"First of all, I would like to say that it was definitely hard to choose who would be this year’s Top 50. It was a decision process that lasted well into the night, and by the end of it, we felt comfortable with the guys and girls we chose," Kakashi announces as he looked around at our variously emotional faces. "For those of you who were cut today, this is not the end of the road for you guys, nor should it never be. What happened today was simply a roadblock, one that I know that you all are capable of overcoming. This shouldn't stop you from chasing your dreams, and hopefully, we will see some of you, or all of you, back here next year."

"Thank you for participating, and we wish you all the best, but for now, we have to bid you all farewell!"

Yamato’s voice was both formal and somber, a fitting tone for the situation as those of us that have survived clapped for those who had to go home. After they made their exit, a palpable silence enveloped us, as if we were mourning those who had departed from our ranks, which, in a way, we were.

That silence ceased once Yamato started clapping his hands, sounding like firecrackers that were just set off.

"Congratulations on being the Top 50!" he exclaims, turning from somber to excited in no time flat. "You all have rightfully earned your spots here in this phase of the competition, but how well you do later today will truly determine who makes it to the finals, and who goes home."

"This afternoon, you all will be attending a party that the hotel will be throwing in honor of this year’s competition. Many people will be there, including some high-profile members of Japan's fashion community, as well as photographers who will be covering the soiree for many news outlets and publications," Kakashi calmly explains, holding our absolute attention. "Some of the photographers are freelancers that we hired to take photos of you, and only you. Their photos are what we are going to use to determine who's through to the finals and who’s out."

"Here's the catch though: You’ll have to be at your very best throughout the night, because you will not know which photographers are freelancers." Yamato further tells us as a slightly sinister grin begins to show on his face. “So, stay on your toes, but make sure you’re looking natural while doing it.”

"Don’t let your guard down, or else you may end up with a very embarrassing photo by the end of the festivities. . . Trust me, you do not want Yamato, Tsunade, and me criticizing a photo showing you picking your nose." Kakashi adds, likely smirking underneath that mask of his. "Does anyone have any questions?"

"When are we going to finally meet Tsunade-sama?" asked the pink-haired girl with green eyes. I think her name is Sakura, but I’m not sure. . . Haven’t asked her yet.

"You may see her at the party, and you may not. For now, you should worry more about what you're going to wear than who you're going to meet. . . After all, in the fashion world, appearances and first impressions are very important." says Yamato as he moves to depart, Kakashi following right after him. "The party starts at one o'clock. We'll see you all later!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Leave a comment if you like!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked this chapter, and trust me, there are many more to come.


End file.
